Days later...
After placing Minos' mission in a mercenary guild in Elemental City, Luke would go there when he had time and see if the group had been assembled.
That was what he was going to do now while walking through that city alongside Oriel, the fellow who had brought him from the northern region and always came to see how he was.
Luke had last visited the guild in question 2 days ago, but at that moment, only 4 of the 10 needed high-level Spiritual Saints had signed up to do this mission.
These experts were busy people, regardless of where they were in this great cultivation world. So even in a high-level empire like this, it was not easy to assemble a team with ten such high-level mercenaries in such a short time.
Such was the reality, even considering that Minos did not require that these individuals already knew each other.
But as Oriel had already told Luke what it was like to hire people like this, this fellow was not anxious. He was just going another day to check on the situation so as not to delay Minos' plans because of his problems.
As the two were walking, Oriel, level 68, asked Luke. "Are you serious? That Minos is already at level 67?"
"Hmm, he's a monster." Luke, level 62, said to that fellow. "Soon, he will surpass you in terms of level..."
"Tsk!"
"Shut up!"
"You're the one who caught up to him when you had almost ten levels of advantage!" Oriel slapped Luke's left shoulder, causing that young man to frown at him.
But then he became more serious. "But it's awe-inspiring what that person did. He was just someone ordinary the first time I heard of him. But just look at where he's gotten to..."
"Maybe he will become someone as legendary as Vico Travisani!"
"Absurd!" Luke refused such a comparison. "Senior Vico Travisani is a level 99 Spiritual Demigod. The strongest on the continent and closest to becoming a God. Minos can't compare to him!"
Vico Travisani was the Western Empire's greatest enemy and the Eastern Empire's current leader. He had made his state overcome a historical disadvantage and reach a similar level to its neighbor who wanted to dominate it.
Consequently, he was one of the most respected men on the continent, with stories of all kinds circulating among populations of all levels.
For a young man from the northern region like Luke, these stories were enough to fascinate and turn him into a fan who would defend his idol against ridiculous comparisons like the one above.
Oriel knew this and laughed. "Even senior Vico Travisani was once someone at our level, Luke. Minos can catch up to him if his natural talent doesn't limit him, of course."
"Tsk!"
"Never mind. In any case, he is indeed absurdly strong and, I would say, fucking rich." Luke commented, feeling envious of Emperor Stuart's financial power.
Oriel, who had heard from Luke of the number of high-grade crystals Minos sent, became serious upon hearing that.
The number of crystals Minos was willing to spend on this action was high, involving amounts that neither of them imagined they would one day have access to.
They were smart enough to know that Minos was only willing to make this investment because he protected much more. Hence, they could not help but think differently about the Black Plain.
'Maybe I should talk to the family about starting a business in that place...' Oriel thought of this as he entered the main hall of the guild they were going to. 'The powers that make their moves in that place first will get the best results in the future!'
As for Luke, he could only consider what his life would have been like if, instead of returning to the Western Empire, he had stayed in the northern region.
'No matter. I'm happy with the place I've reached!' He thought before he heard a Spiritual Saint picking up one of the posters with Minos' mission on it.
"Hmm? Black Plain Empire? Where is that?" This level 78 man asked aloud while people in the surrounding area were quiet because they did not know about that place.
News of the Black Plain reached the remotest places in this world. But only a few powers interested in the development of that territory or in 'watching' the rise of a new power were aware of the latest news from that area.
Ordinary people and mercenaries from places like the Western Empire still had to get used to it to readily know how to locate such a place.
Luke then said. "Senior, the Black Plain Empire is between the northern region and the central part of the continent. Its capital is Dry City, where the creator of this mission, His Majesty Minos Stuart, is summoning the ten high-level Spiritual Saints."
"You can travel to Vogel, and from there, anyone will know how to tell you the location of Dry City."
"Oh?" That expert looked with interest at Luke, seeing that such a fellow knew quite a few things, which might indicate that this young man had some relation to the mission. "Do you know anything about this mission? How can someone from the northern region fulfill the promise of crystals on that poster?"
"Hmm, yes. Emperor Stuart is the leader of a state with hundreds of millions of inhabitants, with Vogel as part of it. He is also the son of a high-ranking family from the Flaming Empire. So he has plenty of resources to hire Spiritual Saints." Luke answered that fellow while other Spiritual Saints paid attention to him.
"What about the Spiritual Church? Won't it act against me if I help this fellow?" The same man asked the most important question of all about this mission which, by the way, paid very well.
"No. Emperor Stuart is the leader of the northern region. Then, he can ask for outside assistance without a problem." Luke replied. "As for possible retaliation because of your origin, His Majesty is doing this to solve an empire-related problem. Thus, the Church should not get involved."
Usually, the Church would not look favorably on organizations in its territory hiring mercenaries or powers coming from enemy territories, as in the case of the Western Empire. Because of this, states like Blackrock, Rosser, and Albano did not hire mercenaries together with the former Vogel kingdom to act against the Flaming Empire.
Also, because of this, Minos was not hiring stronger people, like some Spiritual Sage, to help him stop Abe's helper.
But people below level 80, to deal with the problem called Abe, the Church was not seeing any problems at the moment, so Minos could act this way without irritating such an organization.
"So that's it..." That and other Spiritual Saints understood the basics of the situation, and a few more began to get interested in joining this group that would soon be leaving for the Black Plain Empire.
And so, soon Luke discovered that of the 10 individuals, 8 had already left their names behind.
In a short time, Minos could receive help from this place!
'Considering how much slower big 8th stage beasts are than that eagle, these people should reach the northern region in about three months...' Luke considered as he smiled in anticipation of the prize Richard had promised.
