The Rise of the Black Plain

"Oh?" Several of those serpents simultaneously said as they sensed their surroundings and looked ahead from where they could see the city's shadows.

In doing so, most of those individuals were surprised to notice how much denser the spiritual energy inside that dome was. But such a feeling did not last for long.

After all, they already had good expectations because of Minos. Hence, their opinion regarding the Dry City was not so different, and they held this place in high regard.

"But although this place is better than the outside, there are still many lands without any life here in this area..." So, one of the snakes at the 5th stage said as it looked at the ground below his body and the surroundings, in that part closest to the northern side of the wall.

"Doesn't young Minos plan to plant some vegetation to make this place more pleasant?" Another individual asked.

Upon hearing these comments, Minos continued walking toward the city until he began to answer their questions. "Well, within my city, we have some green areas. As for this empty area you are seeing, I plan to fill all of that with construction in the coming months or years."

"So, there is no point in turning this part here into a green land, an artificial forest."

"That's how it is... Well, it makes sense. Humans like to live in these overcrowded places, where there are more services." Lack commented as he understood Minos' reasons for having such plans.

For them, spiritual beasts, they didn't like the idea of living in a place full of buildings with little vegetation. Instead, they preferred the forests, where there was more space and a lower density of living things.

Minos then continued. "But I plan to build some nature reserves in my city. That is because I want high-level beasts to live around here, as well as the mounts of local cultivators and visitors to be able to receive better accommodation locally."

"Oh? That's interesting. How long will it take for something like that to become available?" Lack asked, while at the same time looking in the direction of those four young snakes, which he intended to leave in this place under Minos' supervision.

"Well, I think it's going to take a while... Our city still has a tiny population. So, we have to invest in local production or my army. Otherwise, we would run out of security or resources."

"On that account, that might take a few years before we have built such places... But, anyway, why the question?"

Upon hearing this, Lack did not take long to speak. "Young Minos, we came to congratulate you on your advancement by bringing some gifts and some of our young tribe members to help you locally. So, I was a little concerned about the local conditions."

Frequently, spiritual beasts were much more sincere than humans. And as such, they had no trouble getting straight to the main issue, as opposed to some humans, who would often delay for a long time before exposing their goals.

So, Lack didn't mind saying these things without even 'sitting down' to talk to Minos. He was not interested in attending parties and bootlicking this young man.

Yes, he respected beings as talented as Minos, but he, like many beasts, preferred a 'dry' approach. So, it would not be strange for him to arrive in Dry City and return to the Flooded Valley in just one day...

"You mean..."

"Young Minos, these four are some of the members of our tribe who may reach the 5th stage in the next few months. They have accompanied us on this journey to stay in your city, living under your command!" Lack said in a satisfied manner as if he was talking about an everyday thing.

"This... Are you sure? I actually appreciate your offer, since it would help me. Still, I'm afraid that life in this city is not suitable for a Feathered Serpent... There is no flooded area around here, and we don't have the necessary structure to solve this in a short time." Minos said while feeling a bit surprised by all this.

'It seems that this tribe wants to take under my wing in the future... Or they wouldn't be willing to do such a thing!'

Hearing Minos' words, the female elder standing there shook its head while still accompanying that young man on the journey to the urbanized part of this place. "Don't worry, you just need to tell us where we can build a small reserve, and we will do all the work."

"Even if we need materials, we can bring them from outside!"

"Really? Are you willing to go to all that trouble?" Minos asked as he looked in the direction of those two more giant serpents. "What exactly do you expect from me?"

"Hehe, young Minos is truly straightforward. I like that." Lack said in satisfaction. "We naturally want to be part of your territory in the future and enjoy the security that such a state will certainly have. So, we won't be mean to the future leader of our region just because you haven't gotten there yet!"

'It is as I expected...' Minos sighed internally, realizing that these serpents didn't fail at anything to what he knew about this species through the memories left by Henricus Longus.

"Well, we'll sort that out in the next few hours when I have someone to help us regarding this reserve. But for now, I'll ask to take you to a temporary location, and there, someone will help you live around here without causing trouble."

"OK."

"But before that, you two can come with me..." Minos began to speak, giving the orders for those eight serpents to be escorted by the soldiers to the area where usually the strongest beasts stayed in this city.

White and the beasts of most of the Spiritual Kings in this city were living peacefully in such a place, while their masters stayed in this town.

And since beasts could talk to each other even in cases of beings that had not yet reached the 4th stage, that would be the best place for those serpents, especially the weaker ones.

On the other hand, those two serpents that were already at the 6th stage stayed with Minos, heading towards Dry City, while the other group circles around outside that built-up area.

"By the way, how was your move to the Flooded Valley? At that time, you were just moving in. I wonder if it went well?"

Upon hearing this question, Lack and his companion were quick to start telling Minos the recent history of that tribe.

After that first group of serpents had arrived in the Flooded Valley, they had settled in the most central area of that forest. And within a few days, all the other serpents still traveling there had arrived at that place.

However, after they settled in that area, it wasn't long before other rulers of that forest noticed their arrival. As such, they had to fight several battles until they finally won the right to live in that area.

But as was to be expected for beasts like these, they had won their various battles and gained the position of sovereigns of the Flooded Valley!

But that was not strange. After all, the tribe of Feathered Serpents led by Virtus had eight beasts at the 6th stage, the strongest at level 58.

On the other hand, the tribe that previously led the Flooded Valley was the Giant Crocodiles. That was a regional race whose main characteristic was the size of its beings, which could exceed 15 meters in length and 3 meters in height at the 6th stage.

But even if they were large, such beings were led by a beast at only level 56. So, when Virtus had fought the former ruler of that forest, he had quickly conquered that region!

And even if such a fight had not taken place, Virtus and his tribe could still have won the respect of the beasts of that territory with relative ease.

Their tribe was already the strongest by the time they entered the Flood Valley, and it wouldn't take long for them to gain the respect of the beasts of that region.

Anyway, Minos learned all this while walking with those two giant serpents through the main avenues of his city.

He was not worried about scaring his citizens with these two creatures, even if there was a possibility for that. But the reason for him to do this was simple. It was to show the local citizens that his government had even more power than they knew, to the point that even such strong beasts respected him.

Hence, he hoped to make the local citizens a little more confident in the future of this place. And so, he could soon reveal the troubled future that this city was about to begin facing.

But while he was doing this, suddenly a group got in his way...