The Rise of the Black Plain

While the Gods in the Spiritual World prepared for another decisive battle, Minos and his people spent their first two weeks in Armhands.

Even though they couldn't leave the guild's headquarters on the floating island, there was still much for them to do in the city.

They had to cultivate, train, learn new information about their respective fields, and complete mandatory and optional missions.

Even though this place was relatively small compared to the huge world below them, there was enough for each of them to keep busy long enough not to see the time pass by.

The outskirts of the Armhands' headquarters city had everything imaginable, even places for fights and disputes between members of the same rank.

As the group had expected when they arrived, the competition was brutal. The guild forbade irregular fights or assassination attempts. But if you weren't careful and got mixed up with the wrong people, you could find yourself in deadly trouble.

The guild turned a blind eye to cases where those involved were concerned about erasing evidence, so relying on the guild was not interesting. Either you stayed out of trouble, or you used your own strength to protect yourself.

Minos and his group had learned a bit about who they shouldn't get too close to in this place and the problems they could get into, even if they weren't looking for trouble.

Some aliens simply wouldn't do business with others if they weren't from the same coalition or if their resources weren't unusual.

In other cases, some deliberately spread misinformation to delay or prevent competitors from completing missions.

So the group learned that if they wanted to succeed in this place, they had to play dirty!

...

A new day dawned as Minos and Ruth awoke after a few hours of rest together.

Opening his eyes at the same time as Ruth, Minos saw his beautiful black-haired wife naked and snuggled against her on the small bed in his room.

That was a single room for recruits, so there was only a single bed, a two-door closet, and a small dresser with two drawers. In addition, a small side door gave access to a 3 square meter bathroom.

Most of the Armhands recruits were Demigods or, rather, Grandmasters. Why were the rooms of specialists at this level so simple?

Because the guild didn't want its members to relax in the lower ranks of the organization.

Everything was done to make you want to reach the next level and contribute more to the guild.

Ruth had her own room, but since she and Minos were a couple and there weren't any couple's rooms for Recruits, they didn't want to use different rooms and had been living there since they arrived in this headquarters city.

Anyway, when the alarm clock woke them up, they looked at each other for a moment and started the day together.

Cultivators of their level didn't have bitter mouths after a night's sleep. So, after exchanging a few words, they kissed each other without even getting up to clean themselves.

"What do you have to do this morning?" Ruth asked him as she sat up in bed, getting ready to get up.

The space in that small room was so cramped that the two of them couldn't do that simple act simultaneously!

"I'm going on one of my mandatory missions," Minos said.

All Armhands Recruits had a period of time to complete their mandatory missions. If one wanted to and could do them quickly, it could be very advantageous for them because new duties would only arise for them after the deadline for each duty had passed.

That meant that once they had completed their mandatory missions, they could do any number of optional missions and earn merit points to improve their position in the guild.

There were other ways to earn merit points. For example, if you were at a certain rank and you moved up a level, you would get points. If you were in the middle of a mandatory mission and went above and beyond the call of duty, such as rescuing someone important to the group or obtaining special information, you would also earn points.

In short, anything that could help Armhands in any way generated points for the members behind those actions. Not only that but doing good deeds for the guild or being a more important member naturally generated respect and opportunities.

By getting on the good side of an Officer, a Recruit could gain access to information and special missions that would be more difficult for a common Recruit to discover or access. In this way, such a Recruit could grow faster.

That's why Minos wanted to fulfill his obligations immediately and start the optional missions.

"Good luck then. My mandatory missions are a bit more boring. I'll have to learn more about medicine to care for some of them." Ruth sighed as she thought about her individual missions.

The collective missions she had to do would be with the rest of the group, but they were waiting for the moment to do them. Some group members were busy with other things and thought it best to leave the obligatory collective missions until they were more familiar with the place.

"Don't worry about improving too fast. Concentrate on learning medicine and improving your cultivation. That's more important to you than doing these missions so quickly." Minos told her as she got up and went to the shower.

Not all of them had to follow the same strategy. Their strategy depended on what kind of skills and abilities they had. Minos had the potential to become a powerful seer, but none of his missions were related to that because his superiors knew that it would take time for him to become a seer.

It would take longer than the first mandatory missions he had, so during his first year in Armhands, his missions were more focused on his combat skills.

In Ruth's case, it was the other way around. Her superiors hoped she would soon be able to work as a doctor, so her mandatory missions were related to her new profession.

Therefore, it wasn't even possible for her to follow the same plan as Minos.

It was the same for the other members of her team and even the other Armhands Recruits. Each of them had their peculiarities, and it wasn't necessarily interesting for everyone to do what Minos wanted to do.

With that in mind, they said their goodbyes after leaving their room, with Minos quickly heading to the mission building while Ruth went to the medical area of the external city.

Arriving at the place where he would be doing one of his mandatory missions, Minos quickly presented his ID and was given directions on where to go to meet the person behind the mission.