The Rise of the Black Plain

After listening to the hologram's explanation, the group understood how this place worked.

It was easy and quick to join the guild and accept a mission. Not only that, from what they understood, they didn't have to stay in the guild building and wait for opportunities.

With the ability to become a backup group for specific missions, as soon as the opportunity arose for the group to take on a mission as the main team, their IDs would notify them of the change wherever they were.

The guild's terms also seemed interesting, and they wouldn't have to undergo any evaluation that might reveal their characteristics to others.

One would only have to accept the guild's terms and share genetic information so that only that person could receive their own rewards.

The hologram finished. "For team missions, the mission leader must register the mission on their ID and then link their ID to the IDs of their group members.

The leader can exclude group members or divide the mission reward as they see fit, so choose your leader wisely."

Maximilian then asked. "Do the Steelbeards have any kind of allegiance requirements? Are there other groups like you offering missions in Examire?"

"Steelbeards is the largest free group for foreigners and natives to post their missions or sell their services. However, several groups in Examire do the same thing, including forces in the city such as The Toads, Armhands, The Knives, Coldlaws, and others that accept missions even though that is not their main purpose.

However, only the Steelbeards don't demand loyalty from their members and accept members of any local group. As I said, we don't ask for information from new members."

Minos heard the name of the group that had invited them and asked. "Armhands? Do you know anything about that group?"

The hologram explained. "Armhands is a force based in Examire, basically made up of aliens. It is the third most powerful of the local organizations. Their next selection of members is open, and anyone interested who is at least at the Grandmaster stage can compete for this year's vacancies.

Armhands require partial loyalty from its members, i.e., members of this force cannot perform external services that compete with the group's services. However, its members are not prohibited from selling their services in areas in which Armhands is not involved.

Armhands members have a lot of freedom once they meet the group's minimum requirements regarding individual power and service to the organization. But until they meet the minimum requirements, they usually can't leave the city or perform outside services.

According to the data in my system, Armhands has an approval rating of 55% among members who have been in the force between 1 and 4 years but has an approval rating of over 85% among those who have been in the force for over 20 years. 28% of new members die in their first 2 years in the organization, and less than 1% of their members become high-ranking Sovereigns. Only 5 Armhands members have reached the 12th stage in the group's entire history..."

The artificial being summarized various public information about this group for Minos' staff, giving them a better understanding of what this force they had been invited to join was like.

Minos and his staff would soon agree to Steelbeard's terms and take their IDs from the hologram.

"What are we going to do? Are we really going to visit this Armhands group? The approval of new group members is pretty bad." Said one of the group's Sovereigns.

Maximilian then commented. "It's not that simple. According to what the hologram said, new members of this group must have Demigod cultivation. But some of us are already Sovereigns, and others are about to become Sovereigns. Our experience might differ from that of ordinary members who join such a group."

Ruth agreed, as she had been dealing with new soldiers joining the Black Plain Army for years. "Besides, it's normal for new members in any force to have a less than interesting start. We usually have to do ordinary, boring chores when we're new to any group. Only time will take us to better places and good opportunities."

This was the case. If you were to judge the experience of being part of a group by the opinion of new recruits, all the forces in the world would be bad.

Minos commented. "We will visit Armhands to better understand what it would be like for us to join the group. If the situation isn't bad for us, it might be interesting to join them so we can get the knowledge we're looking for for free".

With that, the group agreed to proceed to the Armhands' headquarters.

They then used the bone they had received from one of the Armhands, which, when one of them put energy into it, began to send a signal in the direction of the group's headquarters.

They followed this signal without prey as they walked through the local streets, learning a little more about the city where they would likely be living for the next few years.

After 40 minutes of walking, they arrived at a place below one of Examire's floating districts.

"What now?" Ruth asked as she looked around, while they all felt that there was no way they could reach this place by flying.

"I think we have to go over there." One of the two robots pointed toward a square building with a line of people in front of it.

From the roof of this small building, there was a bright light beam that went up to the floating neighborhood above where they were standing.

Minos and Maximillian made their way to this place and asked the last person in line if this was the way to Armhands.

With the confirmation that this was indeed the way to go, they joined the line and waited for about 11 minutes until they finally entered the small square building.

Inside were three alien beings of different races and what looked like an elevator door.

"Who are you? What do you want?" One of them asked in one of the five languages Minos' group knew.

Maximillian then showed them the bone they had received earlier. "We were invited here to meet the Armhands. We'd like to continue if possible."

The level 104 being looked at the bone in Maximillian's hands and quickly recognized what it was.

"All right, you can pass." He said in a neutral tone, slightly different from the one he had spoken to the beings before Minos's group.

With that, they soon entered what seemed to be an elevator and headed for the Armhands' headquarters.