The Rise of the Black Plain

"I have 10 weapons and 12 high-level grade-3 armor, and some low-level grade-4 pills." That man in front of Minos said. "I am willing to trade the grade-3 and grade-4 items for 10 King-grade and one Saint-grade medicine."

Beasts cultivated mainly through food resources. They could not use crystals, as they could not use cultivation techniques. And since the energy in heaven and earth was not so easy to absorb, using food resources was at the base of any beast tribe.

So they would trade items of little use to them, such as weapons and armor, for this kind of resource.

However, don't make a mistake. Even though these beasts didn't see much value in artifacts, they could fully use weapons and armor.

That was not normally possible if they were in their bestial forms. Still, they could use the benefits of artifacts when in their humanoid forms.

However, many beasts didn't see much use in doing this since their bodies were naturally powerful and hardly needed weapons or armor.

The skin of most of the beasts of this world was rigid enough to protect them. At the same time, their claws, grouts, teeth, and other body structures were rigid, sharp, or dangerous enough to strike their opponents.

Hardly a weapon of the same rank as a beast would help them much!

Since it was hard to get anything of a higher rank, most of them used such things as trade items rather than using them as combat artifacts.

But there were their exceptions, in the case of beasts with characteristics very focused on defense, offense, or speed. For some races, it could be interesting to have human artifacts in their possession.

But this was not the case for those around Minos, so most wanted to trade with him.

He said. "I have to see the condition of the artifacts. But if they are undamaged, I can accept that offer."

With those words, the two began to discuss the status of the weapons, armor, and pills that man had to trade.

Minos agreed to keep them as long as he had to give one less King-grade medicine.

That spiritual beast considered this change in his initial proposal a lot. Yet, after a while, he agreed with that overweight human.

Minos went on doing business there, sometimes retelling his story, sometimes listening to local stories.

Veora Kingdom was a state that had a theocracy in power, with many beast tribes supporting the king. However, everywhere, there were those opposed to the leadership of a domain, with grudges and views that were somewhat problematic for local leaders.

Minos heard about how rigid the king was with his people, enslaving those who went against the chosen of the gods, he, and his family.

At the same time, the worship of the leading figure in this state was as intense as the worship of the seraphim and the Supreme Pontiff of the Spiritual Church in some of the domains of that organization.

Crowds worshiped the figure of the local leader and called those opposed to him representatives of evil who should die for the good of the state.

Because of this mixture of religion and governance, it was highly complicated to act against the king, and this was one of the most closed states on the continent.

Minos had heard in that tribe about the massacres of the noble families of the ancient dynasty that ruled these lands during the rise of the chosen of the gods. He was impressed by the difference in history that these people had compared to what was known in the northern region about this place.

But on second thought, he didn't give the matter much importance, considering that it was natural that the royal family of this state had manipulated the history for its inhabitants.

'They probably oppressed everyone opposed to the new history of the kingdom, created laws preventing the real history from being discussed, and also created the cult of the sovereign figure... That must have erased the real history from the popular mentality of this state.' He considered, having heard some signs of dissatisfaction from some of the beasts of that tribe.

But it was not his problem if the situation in this kingdom was complicated. He was not a savior and was merely passing through. As such, Minos merely behaved as someone curious to learn about what the locals had to talk about, ignoring the differences between reality and local fantasy.

After finishing doing business on his first day there, Minos accompanied the two beasts that brought him to this tribe to rest at a local inn.

The next day, he woke up early and returned to the previous building, where more people would come to meet him to do business.

After a few resource exchanges, he finally met with a beast that wanted resources but didn't have things that interested him to trade.

"Well, there is an alternative for me to give you King and Saint-grade medicines. If you can get me quickly and safely to the border with the Western Empire, I will give you what you asked for."

That level 79 beast knew that the help he could give Minos was limited to guiding this human through the kingdom. But if there were a battle or something like that, it would be of little help since something capable of threatening someone at this human's level would also threaten it.

"I can guide you to the border. I know some alternate routes to get us away from the significant problems there would be if you were traveling alone. But I don't have someone who can guarantee your safety with me.

That person, you would have to bear their price on your own." That beast said, indicating to Minos a level 83 beast. "That's Hermes. I have known it for a long time and know that if you invite it, it will join my group to escort you to the border. But there will be a cost for that, something I can't afford."

Minos looked at that purple-haired individual and nodded to the man proposing a deal to him. "I can pay for 2 Saint-grade medicines if Hermes does the job. However, I won't start paying until halfway through and will only finalize the payment once we reach my destination."

"Hmm, I'll see what he thinks about that. If there are no problems, we can leave the day after tomorrow." That beast shook one of Minos' hands.

"What about the beast confrontation ahead? Is it over?" Minos questioned, frowning his eyebrows.

"About that, the two are still fighting, but the tribal elders expect the confrontation to end tomorrow. Both fighting experts are getting tired of the combat...

Anyway, even if they are still getting weirded out, Hermes can safely get through this area."

Minos sighed in relief, as he didn't like the idea of having to stay in one place for a long time, making it easier for those who were supposed to be after him to investigate.

"Then I'll wait for its answer."

Thus, Minos turned his attention to learning more about this state while doing business in that city of beasts.