The Rise of the Black Plain

Quickly the silhouette of Stone Island could be seen on the horizon. However, due to the enormous size of the island, which was about twice as large as the Brown Kingdom, only a part of the territory could be seen.

Stone Island was a place not only huge in the area but also population. Due to its rich mineral reserves, the island had many blacksmiths, which also attracted the attention of ordinary people, who needed the weapons made by those blacksmiths.

Allied to that, the island had a spiritual density that was on par with the best places in the north of the Central Continent. For this reason, there was a large population that exceeded 200 million inhabitants.

And with such a population, even if spiritual plants did not grow on the island, there were still numerous alchemists and arrays masters due to the high demand. Therefore, it was worthwhile for them to live on Stone Island, even if they had to import part of the resources necessary for their activities, as there was a great demand for their services.

However, despite having a good offer for these two types of occupations, the items sold on the island by arrays masters and alchemists were still limited to low-level grade-2.

That is because, for specialists above that level, it would be increasingly disadvantageous to stay on Stone Island, where they would have to import much of what they needed. Thus, those who managed to pass this classification preferred to live close to places where they could grow their own medicines and more easily get other resources.

These were the cases of kingdoms near the Black Plain, such as the Cromwell Kingdom, Kingdom of the Waves, and even the Brown Kingdom. There was a good supply of resources needed for these two professions in these places.

As for why Minos was not going to negotiate in one of these places, well… This is because the items sold by him would be more attractive on Stone Island and would also attract fewer problems if the deals were done in such territory.

Even if he were to become a competitor to the Cromwell Kingdom in the future, it would still take a long time for him to affect that kingdom's relations with Stone Island. And as for the Brown Kingdom, Minos did not want the noble families to know that the Black Plain had been recovered and could yield large quantities of crystals.

And he didn't have to worry about being discovered because someone who passed through the Dry City said something to the kingdom's noble families.

That is because, in addition to traders who appreciated information even from poor places, no one of importance would pass through the Dry City. Moreover, even if people had to pass through the Black Plain, they would rather camp than enter that town, which could not provide the same level of service as their temporary camps...

As for traders, most of those who passed through the Dry City were merchants from other kingdoms or smaller ones who had no influence. Minos could then be sure that, as long as he stayed out of the Brown Kingdom, it would take a long time for the noble families to notice the changes of the Black Plain.

Anyway, Minos had already made a deal with Elen Nash, which made Stone Island even more attractive to him. For all that, he had decided to start his business outside the Black Plain on this island!

Slowly the boat in which the young Stuart's group was on began to approach a large port.

There were dozens of boats moored on a long pier and also a few ships in another location a few kilometers away. It was a massive place with a lot of people moving.

At the bottom of the port, a large city could be seen, one that was at least five times larger than the Maritime City, from which Minos had passed.

This was the city of Portland, one of the four major port cities on Stone Island. The town was the main trade route between the Brown Kingdom and Stone Island due to the shorter distance of this region with the Maritime City.

Minos' group then said goodbye to the crew that had brought them here and headed for the port. At that point, numerous guards regulated the entry of people to Stone Island.

At this moment, Minos' group was stopped by a guard, and then he started talking. "Welcome to Stone Island. To enter our territory, you have to pay a fee of 500 low-grade crystals per person."

"Hmm, here it is, 5,500 crystals." Minos said while paying the guard.

"Okay, your group can come in." Replied the guard indifferently.

After that, the group of Minos left the port and rented three carriages. At that moment, the driver of the first carriage asked. "Where are we going, gentlemen?"

"This is our first time here. Take us to a good hotel." Minos said calmly. He did not know this place, but he would stay in this city for a few days until he went to the Nash family headquarters, where he would meet with Elen Nash.

The Nash family lived mainly in the capital of Stone Island, which was in the island's central region. Minos had obtained this information from the butler Dillian before leaving the Dry City.

However, Minos wanted to know what this port city had to offer before leaving. This is because, despite not being the capital of Stone Island, Portland still had many businesses available. In addition, Minos wanted to find blacksmiths, alchemists, and arrays masters to bring to the Black Plain, as it would be more challenging to convince someone from the capital. Then he wanted to start here.

So, even if he didn't do big business here, he might still be able to attract some of these professionals.

As for business in the capital, this would be about selling Minos items through Elen, and it would also be a place that would have a more significant offer and better resources for the Black Plain.

In the little more than a year that he had spent, Minos had collected just over 500,000 crystals, the ones he planned to spend on this visit to Stone Island. That way, he was well-prepared to get items that would increase the strength of his forces and population!

"Oh! So, it's your group's first time around here. Are you traders who came to do business on the island?" Asked the coachman, with a curious expression on his face.

"That's right. We came to do business on the island." Minos said calmly.

"I understand. Many people like you arrive here daily. I'm going to give you a hint, although Portland doesn't have the highest level items on Stone Island, there's still a lot of good stuff." Said the coachman sincerely.

Minos then asked. "Can you tell me a little bit about it?"

"Haha, of course! Although the best specialists from the three main professions are in the capital, many alchemists and arrays masters are in our city."

"This is because it is easier and faster to obtain imported resources in port cities. Also, the capital already has its demand met almost entirely by the specialists there."

"So, many of these professionals are spread out in places like Portland. I venture to say that in addition to the capital, only the port cities have a great offer of the products sold by these specialists." The coachman finished.

"Hmm, thanks for the information."

After a while, Minos' group arrived at a hotel in the central part of the city.

It was a large building with six floors and a glass front.

That was the Hotel Olson, a high-end hotel that belonged to one of the great noble families on Stone Island, the Olson family.

The Hotel Olson chain spread across all the island's major cities and provided one of the best hotel services in the region.

Anyway, Minos and his group had then slowly entered the hotel.

It was excellent. Several types of unique arrays improved the atmosphere of the hotel. For example, there were many light arrays and others that controlled the environment's temperature. Two large elevators operated through arrays as well.

After the group walk for a while, a well-dressed attendant attended them. "Welcome to the Hotel Olson. How long will your group stay at the hotel?"

"Hello, we are staying for a week." Minos answered the attendant's question.

"We have three types of rooms in our hotel. The simple type would cost 500 crystals per week each. The intermediary costs 800 crystals per week, and the high-level one would cost 1,200 crystals per week each." She said politely.

"We are going to have five simple rooms and one intermediate." Minos then took the required amount of crystals and gave the attendant.

After a few minutes, the entire group of Minos was already accommodated in their rooms. And as he watched the city landscape through his bedroom window, Minos began to think about what he would do next.

'Today, I need to obtain some pills to allow the soldiers with me to advance. They have already accumulated the necessary energy, but due to their Blue talents, they cannot overcome this bottleneck without outside assistance in the short time that we have. And as for that young master of the Silva family, he must come after me soon…'

'He should be here in no more than a day. After that, he shouldn't take long to find me.' Minos thought to himself as he calculated his subsequent actions.