The Rise of the Black Plain

In the blink of an eye, two years have passed since Minos and his party left the Armhands' headquarters!

During these first two years of their journey, the group encountered some problems on their way north, but they also encountered some opportunities.

Since they already knew the continent very well, especially the area closest to Armhands, they managed to overcome their problems without any losses, although it wasn't easy.

On the positive side, the growth opportunities during this period allowed two of the level 101 Sovereigns to advance to level 102, as well as the opportunities to gather special resources.

It wasn't the group's goal to collect things to cultivate or trade for more interesting items for the time being. However, they all wanted to return to Zocarro in the future and become even stronger. Therefore, they naturally collected things with an eye to the future when they could return to this glorious world.

In addition to these opportunities, the group managed to cover 40% of the distance between Examire and the north coast, which is very good progress but very much related to the fact that they were still close to home.

The farther north they went, the farther away they would be from Armhands, meaning the less influence that great organization would have and the greater the chance that native or alien beings would cause them problems.

Thus, this first part of the journey had been the smoothest. From now on, the group expected to encounter more problems and, consequently, not to progress as well as they had up to that point.

...

After reaching the Dreaded Expanse, a region of lakes in the center-north of Oqia, Minos' group paused to re-evaluate their plans in light of everything they had seen on their journey so far.

The information they received in Armhands was very good and helped them avoid and solve problems over the past two years.

However, the further away they were from that guild, and the older their information became, the more variables might arise that would make certain plans difficult to follow.

The group had stopped in this region two days ago to re-evaluate their plans and set a new route to the far north of the continent.

From what they had experienced so far, things in this area near the Dreaded Expanse were a bit more hectic than the information they had obtained from the Armhands.

It would be four years since that information had been updated, so a lot could have happened to account for the differences they had noticed between the current reality and what their information said they could expect.

Because of these changes and the new information they had received on their trip to this area, the group soon decided to change their original plan.

Instead of following the previous plan, they would take a detour to avoid entering the area of conflict near their current location, which would lengthen their journey but might prevent them from encountering an area of confrontation between high-ranking Sovereigns.

With these new plans in mind, the group would soon be back on the road, traveling to the northwest of the Dreaded Expanse. They would use The Scarlet Bluff to make their detour and eventually return to their originally planned route, which would take them to The Bland Gulf, where they would set out from Oqia to an island in northern Zocarro.

...

Five weeks after re-evaluating their plans and taking an alternate route to avoid trouble, Minos' party passed through a black region that looked as if it had recently been set on fire.

Charred trees stretched as far as the eye could see. At the same time, ash covered the entire terrain, hiding the reddish minerals that once characterized the area.

Minos and his party hadn't expected their detour to lead them to such a place, but now that they were there, they couldn't turn back from the path they had chosen.

So Minos and his five companions walked cautiously through the area in formation, with Ruth in the center of the group, Minos in front, the robot behind, and the other three keeping an eye on the sides.

But as they walked through the burned out area, worried about traps, ambushes, curses and other things that might be hidden or camouflaged by such devastation, a group of creatures suddenly surrounded them, emerging from the shadows of the area.

"This is the territory of the Temple of Odar. Identify yourselves!" A level 108 creature said while level 106 and 107 creatures turned their weapons against Minos' group.

As weak as Minos' group seemed, even the weakest could be dangerous if they opened their mouths to people who shouldn't be sharing certain information.

Minos and his group stopped moving, and he did what he had to do. "We are members of the Armhands from Examire. We're traveling north to The Bland Gulf. We're just passing through the area because of the war west of here."

If Minos were in the place of those shadow creatures, he would also be wary of beings passing through his territory. So he was direct with his words, making it clear what his destination was and where he came from.

"Armhands? I've never heard of them. Are they an alien group?" The level 108 individual asked.

Not everyone in this great world knew of the existence of organizations as powerful as the Armhands. Although Minos' guild even had supreme beings, which was a very good thing even for Zocarro, this world was so big that it would be difficult for individuals so far from Examire to recognize that guild.

"Yes, it's a force that mainly consists of aliens. Anyway, my group and I aren't on a mission. We're traveling with the goal of reaching the Ganaway Sanctuary. From there, we intend to go to the artificial moon." Minos gave some more information, trying to avoid a fight.

"Ganaway Refuge? Do you intend to risk leaving Zocarro?" Asked the group leader, who couldn't help but find this strange.

Although some aliens traveled outside of Zocarro, the vast majority of them came to this world for the opportunities it offered. They would hardly give up this place to return to their old homes.

Most of those who used the Ganaway Refuge to reach the artificial moon were natives of Zocarro, curious to learn more about the galaxy and even a part of the universe.

The journey there, however, passed through a small stretch of sea, one of Zocarro's notoriously dangerous places.

"Yes, we came to this world by accident, Senior. Now, we'll settle our affairs in our old home. Therefore, I ask your group to let us pass. We have no intention of interfering with the problems in this area." Minos said politely.

Then he threw the Zocarro native a spatial ring, an item with some resources that could be valuable even for mid-level sovereigns like this creature.

The Zocarro native understood Minos' gesture and smiled between his shadows. "It looks like this is just a group of travelers."

As much as they had to protect this area, it was stupid to fight beings that had no intention of fighting or causing trouble.

They wouldn't just trust Minos; for now, they would let this group pass and watch them from a distance. If they left this area without causing trouble, everything would be fine. If not, they could fight later!

Minos thanked them for their understanding and then moved on with his group, aware that in a place like this, where there had probably been a big battle recently, there might be enemies who were tense and afraid of fighting again.

In a place like this, unless you acted suspiciously or had a lot of power, you would avoid trouble and not make life easier for possible enemies in the area.

With that, he and his companions quickened their pace and soon left this area, heading north.

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