The Rise of the Black Plain

It did not take long, and the meeting with the soldiers ended, and they left to carry out their missions.

Minos wanted the local population to know as soon as possible that they would have good opportunities if they went to the Dry City.

And it wasn't long before the news spread through the Yellow City.

With the 54 soldiers of the Black Plain Army disseminating the information Minos directed, many people quickly learned who these people were, who attacked the bandits, and what they offered for this city.

...

In a restaurant in the central area of Yellow City, two old men were eating when they suddenly overheard a conversation that caught their attention from another table.

"Ros, I heard that the group that attacked the bandits in our city comes from the Dry City." A middle-aged woman said to a tall, strong man.

"Hmm, I heard that too. One of the men in that group came to my store earlier today and spread the word of their boss." The strong man said while he carried a piece of roasted meat in his mouth.

"Ahh! So, did you hear that personally? I heard about this from my younger brother. And then? What do you think of all this?" The woman asked with an exciting look on her face.

She was a small local trader who had Blue talent and was at level 30. And although this job offered in the Dry City was not very impressive for her, the consequences of that certainly were.

That's because many of her clients were people with White talent who would undoubtedly be interested in this opportunity. With that, the Dry City's business could almost certainly expand even further, as these people could finally have a guaranteed income that was significantly better than what they could get here in the Yellow City.

For this reason, she could both have more customers, and these customers could consume more of her products.

The man took time to chew his food and then answered. "It is quite interesting. They offer 40 low-grade crystals to weaker people, who are between levels 20 and 29. As for those from levels 30 to 39, they offer 100 crystals."

He then drank a large mouthful of beer and then continued. "With this, people with White talent, as well as people with Blue talent, can get jobs that generate a decent income when there is nothing else to do. And this is certainly an opportunity for small stores like ours."

Minos had increased the remunerations of farmers who reached the Spiritual Warrior stage. That's because he needed to encourage more people to continue and enter agriculture, even encouraging people with Blue talent to do this job, even if it was a temporary thing.

After all, the number of vacancies for the Black Plain Army was limited, and the demand for services in the Dry City was not so significant that all people with Blue talent had a job. For this reason, agriculture was a good alternative for these people, who could earn a decent salary in this activity until something better came up.

"Of course, if all of this is true..." He finished with a smile on his face. After all, one couldn't trust these people right away. Who knows, maybe they were just another group of criminals? And as far as they knew, the Dry City was more flawed than the Yellow City...

"Hmm, it's true. But it was said that they would leave as soon as they deal with the other bandits who left yesterday. If that is true, we can send someone to Dry City to see if this is indeed true, right after they leave." The woman said confidently.

"Oh! That's an excellent idea..." The muscular man agreed with a smile.

"And it looks like they also have a high-level grade-1 alchemist over there. That is quite unbelievable. Is the Black Plain that good? Even our Yellow City has only one alchemist." Ros said as he remembered that crucial piece of news he had heard.

"Hmm..."

The two continued to talk about rumors of this group that had arrived in the city the night before. Meanwhile, the two old men were utterly shocked by what they just heard.

"Did you hear what I did, Edric? Is Dry City recruiting?" One of the old men, who had a long white beard, asked doubtfully.

He wanted to know if he was hallucinating because hearing that the Dry City could pay for all that, hiring anyone below level 39, was unbelievable.

These two were a merchant from the Kingdom of the Waves and the only alchemist in the Yellow City. Edric, the old alchemist, had lived in this city for a long time and generally obtained medicines through this old merchant from the Kingdom of the Waves, Lance.

The two had met yesterday to do their business as usual. And today, as the old Lance would be returning to his family in the innermost region of the Kingdom of the Waves, the two took the opportunity to have lunch at this restaurant.

As to why old Lance managed to get into Yellow City without any significant problems, this is because of Edric. As the city's only alchemist, criminals could not risk Edric stopping producing pills due to a lack of resources. Therefore, Lance was not disturbed by the bandits when he passed through the city.

Edric, who had long white hair and a full mustache, said with a serious expression. "Hmm, I heard that too, but I can't believe it."

They both had a little knowledge of the Black Plain that ordinary people in this city might not have.

Both were very aware of how bad the Dry City was. After all, old Lance was a merchant who traveled in the northern region of the Central Continent for a long time!

"This can't be right. I passed through the Dry City about three years ago, and there was no way anyone in that place could pay a salary of 40 low-grade crystals to a cultivator in the third stage! Even more for large numbers of people as they are saying." Lance said in disbelief.

For him, there was no large-scale export activity in the Black Plain, with only the sale of some animals hunted in the region. But that was barely enough to keep the lives of these hunters' families, so it could not count as an export activity in the eyes of any trader.

The import of resources was also limited to food, which certainly did not generate many job openings in the region. As for crystal mining... As an area lacking in spiritual energy, the number of crystals mined per year should be insufficient for what they just heard.

For all these reasons, Lance did not believe that any power within the Dry City could sustain such expenditures.

Edric then spoke with a smile on his face. "Maybe this is another group of bandits trying to take over this city?"

"But the suggestion of the young woman behind us was excellent. How about that? Let's go to the Dry City to see if there's anything there that makes it possible." The old alchemist said, looking at Lance.

"But what about your business?" Lance asked doubtfully.

"There will be no problem. Now that Gul's group is almost destroyed, I have lost more than half of my clients in Yellow City. So, I won't have any problems if I go out for just a week."

Although he disliked the bandits' behavior, Edric had no option but to become the supplier of spiritual pills to Gul's group. If he refused, he would have already been killed, and this was not a world of the fair, so he might as well earn something from those people.

When you can't do anything about it, just accept it and try to take advantage of it. Edric thought that way.

"Oh! Since it is like that, come on, I also have nothing to do for now."

After that, the two paid the bill at the restaurant and then headed towards one of the two exits from the Yellow City in the old merchant's carriage.

...

While the Yellow City population debated the bandit group's destruction and the possibility of the Dry City recruiting, Gul and his group arrived at the cave where the Nine-tailed Fox was located.

"Guys, start getting ready. Even if that fox is weakened, I don't want to risk too much." Gul said with a smile on his face. He was very excited to capture these foxes because that would give him many crystals!

Gul then looked at two of the commanders and said. "You two, don't forget, your job is to capture the cub, don't worry about fighting that beast. We will defend the attacks in your direction."

After that, the group moved on to enter the cave that was only 100 meters away.