The Rise of the Black Plain

Time flew for those in The Red Expanse and soon the team would complete its first 300 years!

In just over 110 years after Minos' group's great battle earlier, not only his team, but several others would reach a crucial point in the event, with the numbers of competitors still alive reaching less than half of the original competitors. Meanwhile, the first individuals had arrived at the center of the plane to wait for the end of the event!

With less than a third of the test time having been completed, there was still a long way for the many aliens competing to go.

...

In an area under a windstorm, Minos and his group were heading west, having already completed 75% of their journey to the meeting point in the middle of the plane.

He and his six companions had energy cloaks around their bodies, protecting themselves as best they could as they traveled through an area with a lot of sand particles in the air, making it difficult for them to see what was around.

The wind there was not normal. Each gust cut through the air as if blades were being thrown from one side of the area to the other, while the seven individuals endured the blows against their bodies.

There was nothing for them to do in this situation but endure. Their enemy today was not a conscious creature, but the strange climatic phenomena of this area, capable of even threatening the lives of the competing geniuses.

Minos and his companions didn't know it, but phenomena like this had already killed 4 competitors in the last 300 years of the Millennium Massacre, a frightening number considering that everyone there was on the same level.

Even if some were stronger than others in terms of combat ability, their resistances didn't differ so much that this information wasn't important.

But while they were in the dark about the reality of most of their competitors, these seven men of different species moved forward in formation while enduring cuts to their bodies.

"Aaaagh!"

One of them screamed as he felt a deeper cut on one of his shoulders, but before he even hit the ground in pain, an hourglass formed around his body, with his wound closing quickly.

Minos retracted his powers after healing his ally and said. "Stand firm! The storm will be over in another 14 minutes! Hold out until then and then we can move on to our target!"

The men stood firm, thinking about how they had come a long way so far and were close to completing their objectives in The Red Expanse.

Having traveled together for another 110 years, they had eliminated 40 more enemies on their way and found 4 more opportunities in those decades.

By their reckoning, the group had already eliminated between 150 and 200 opponents, so considering other competitors who might have fought in that time, they felt that between 300 and 500 competitors had already fallen.

If at the start of the competition they would have had to fight 10 enemies for each spot, now the situation had improved a lot and their chances of winning in The Red Expanse would only depend on them reaching the center of the plan and waiting for the end of the selection.

With this in mind, the men continued forward, talking to each other from time to time to motivate themselves to endure the tough tests of this place.

...

While Minos' group was facing the windstorm, another group of similar numbers to theirs was traveling in an area over 200 years' walk away from where Minos was.

This group was sitting around a campfire, while several alien bodies burned in front of their members, some of them sitting, resting, others standing, monitoring their surroundings or chatting.

"It looks like this group had found a way to do something valuable near there. Let's check this place out before the end of the test." Said the leader of the group while holding a black crystal in his hands, something that emitted a signal as one approached a certain area nearby.

"Is this an opportunity or another prank?" A seated woman asked as she recovered from the fight.

Among the competitors in this inheritance, 66% of them were male creatures, 30% were female, and the rest were creatures with no well-defined sexual identity, such as sentient plant beings.

This was the only woman in the group, but she was the most respected, even if she wasn't the team leader.

The leader of the group, the one with the strongest combat powers, looked at this woman of great mental power, who, although not as strong physically, had killed half of their enemies on this journey.

"We can only find out by trying."

The group had encountered many opportunities in the 200 years they had traveled together. But among the places they had passed, they had also faced problems that had brought them nothing good!

The Red Expanse wasn't just about opportunities. There were several areas and resources that only tested one's endurance capabilities, without giving them any improvement.

The group had encountered two such areas on their journey here and had barely survived, gaining practically nothing on both occasions.

With this in mind, some of the team members were more careful about where they went.

They preferred to get stronger with the opportunities in the area, but they didn't want to put their lives at risk for areas that would give them nothing.

"We're less than 100 years from the center of the plan. I'd rather not risk much more from now on. Dealing with our competitors and taking their storage items should be enough for us after everything we've faced." She suggested to the team.

"I agree."

The team was divided between those who agreed with her and those who wanted to experience where the black crystal would take them.

"Let's move on and split up when we're close to where it will take us. We'll wait for a while to continue to the center together or you can go ahead alone, in case the worst happens." The team leader decided with difficulty.

Just like that, another group would continue with its objectives in The Red Expanse, approaching either its end or its great opportunity to become stronger.

In a few more decades, groups like this would meet more and more often!