The Rise of the Black Plain

After a week of traveling together, Minos and Gloria had gotten to know a little more about each other.

Obviously, this young man had kept his name and relevant information about his short life a secret.

At first, he did not want to take any unnecessary risks with this woman. But after finding out that she was part of the Spiritual Church, he realized that this had been a good decision on his part.

The church might not be his enemy for the moment. Still, it could be problematic if Gloria found out that she was traveling alongside a regional enemy!

Gloria probably would not act against him, but maybe she would not keep his location a secret either.

In any case, Minos had maintained the story that he was Albert, a member of one of the Endless Snow Mountain Range organizations, someone who was now on a mission.

As for Gloria, he had found out that she was the leader of the Spiritual Church of this region. Nevertheless, although she had been born and raised in the Flaming Empire, her mother was from this part of the continent.

Other than that, they had not talked about more private details of their lives, which had helped young Stuart keep his side of the story.

But during these days of travel, they had not only talked about these ordinary things.

Although no incidents had occurred, much had happened.

Minos and Gloria had traveled a few thousand kilometers north of where they had met.

They had not passed through any large cities since Minos had convinced Gloria that the journey would be more interesting if they stayed closer to nature...

In his 'opinion,' the cities in this state were too similar. He told her that it was better to get to know natural beauties and the unusual creatures found in forest regions than to keep going to such repeated places...

That was also a method of traveling faster, as the discomforts of nature provided the regulated life needed by cultivators...

Without many options for what to do, people would usually work harder on their skills!

And as someone easy to talk to, Gloria had accepted Minos' excuses and traveled alongside him almost without entering the region's large cities.

They had only visited large human settlements when they needed something more specific or found small villages worth spending the night in.

And this way, they had no problems because their route had the fewest people to stand in their way, and their level scared off almost everyone on the road.

On the other hand, while they had been traveling for those days, Gloria had almost entirely helped Minos get rid of that toxic substance from before.

That was why they had traveled all these days together, something that would soon come to an end, as Minos would be fully recovered from that attack with one more day.

In any case, they were already in the vicinity of the most populated region of this kingdom, where the capital of this state was, the destination of both of them.

In fact, at the current speed they had been traveling in the last few days, they could reach such a place in no more than another week of travel!

...

After landing a few dozen meters away from that village from before, Minos finally let go of Gloria's waist before jumping off the back of this woman's beast.

After traveling this period together, this young man had never missed an opportunity to tease Gloria and had somehow managed to make her at least not mind his hands on her waist.

That was no big deal at first glance, but this was important for a hunter trying to get his prey used to his touch.

At first, Minos had been angry with Gloria. But after getting to know each other better, being treated by her, gained a high-level grade-2 sword, he could not help but improve his opinion of her.

Hence, his libertine side had emerged!

And hell, Gloria was perfect and was traveling alone by his side... Minos could not miss this chance!

As for her being stronger than him, well, it did not matter. After all, he had already done this with Ruth when their difference was similar to the current one between him and Gloria.

Therefore, this sovereign was not in the least frightened by her level. On the contrary, such a thing only made him desire her even more!

And Gloria had already figured all that out, of course...

"Do you want to try to find us a place to eat? Or will we just go to rest?" She asked him right after getting off her beast.

Minos then said this in good humor."None of us can cook, so even if this place is tiny, there are probably better cooks than us around here."

"What you just said?" Gloria asked this, already with her face slightly flushed. "You've never seen me cook for real!"

But Minos did not let that go unnoticed. "Gloria, you have burned our food three times in the last seven days..."

"Tsk!"

"There's no shame in not knowing how to cook..." He laughed as they both walked in down the main street of that village.

And in doing so, as they talked, with one side teasing the other, some people in that place quickly started looking at these two with entirely open eyes and mouths.

Just in this place, now, in the early evening, several people were sitting on chairs outside their houses, talking or playing games.

But as Minos and Gloria walked through that area, now and then, someone would stand up from where they were to look in the direction of the two of them.

Not only because they were young and distinguished, but because, as there were some Spiritual Generals there, such people had quickly realized how strong the two were.

In particular, the beautiful black-robed woman, who looked like a true goddess who had descended from her palace in the clouds to brighten their poor lives.

Gulp!

"I've never felt such a strong spiritual fluctuation before!" Someone said this loudly, just after he got up from the chair he was in, alerting his friends who were drinking and chatting.

"Oh?"

"What are their levels?" One of that man's friends asked in curiosity as he looked at the woman of his dreams.

"The young man is at level 52. But that goddess..." He paused for a moment as he swallowed his saliva in fear and admiration. "I can't tell what level she is at!"

"What?"

"How can that be?"

"Is she that strong?"

Gulp!

Spittle swallowing sounds arose in the surroundings.

"Impressive!"

"I've never seen such strong people in our little..."

And then, various conversations spread around that village as Gloria drew the attention of these local people.

Realizing this, Minos could not help but comment on the matter. "Ahh, it must be tough to stay below the radar with such beauty and strength..."

"Are you jealous?" She asked jokingly.

"Hahaha, I'm a discreet person. So, I'm not really into those things..."

"That's true." She murmured as she thought about how Minos had acted up to that point.

He avoided passing through large cities but also did not even train in her presence. It was as if he was trying to keep all kinds of relevant information about him away from her and everyone else.

In fact, the only thing he was doing around her was cultivating. As for the rest, all this week, Gloria had never seen him demonstrating his fighting proficiency.

'That must be on account of him being a member of one of those decaying organizations...' She pondered this as she looked at Minos' handsome face, trying to understand this young man.

'Does he have no ambition? He's only 23, so he should be considered a genius in this region, but...'

'But no genius would go a whole week without training his techniques!'

'Perhaps he is already satisfied that he has reached the 6th stage?' She wondered while accompanying Minos, who had just entered a tavern.

"Well, let's get something to eat, and then we'll find an inn." He said this with a smile on his face as he sat face to face with Gloria around one of the six tables there. 

She then nodded to him. "When we find a place, we will do one more session before our cultivation, and then we can rest in this village until dawn."

"Hmm, that's fine with me."

...