A few days later...
While Jade, Kara, and Ford were heading south to the northern region of the Central Continent, Minos and Maida had finally passed the Endless Snow Mountain Range!
So, they had officially entered the Snow Kingdom, the last place they had business to attend to before it was time to head to the Black Plain.
With his journey coming to an end, Minos was anxious to return to his territory, where his beloved fiancée was waiting for him, probably with some good news.
He knew that his actions would bring many effects to the Black Plain. Hence, he could not wait to reap some benefits and experience a new era in his territory.
First of all, he hoped to find a Black Plain without the presence of the Kingdom the Waves troops. Second, he had in mind that more of his allies would be in that place by this time.
With that, he was eager to finally turn the war's course, leave the oppressed position, and oppress his enemies before achieving his goal.
The independence of the Black Plain!
In any case, he still had a few weeks left in the Snow Kingdom before he began his return trip. Consequently, he was trying to avoid overthinking such things and focused on his training and cultivation.
And it was just such a thing that he was doing at this very moment!
...
On a mountain that had its peak covered in ice, energy sheets, earth, and pieces of branches, could be seen flying from one side to the other, while sounds of battles were spreading around.
At the same time, the trees' shade partially prevented daylight from reaching certain parts of the area, creating an exciting battle scene that attracted the two parties into the conflict.
In particular, the large black-haired tigress, which was exhaustively training with young Stuart.
"Come on, Maida. That's the last charge!" Minos shouted at that beast as he tried to use small fractions of his energies to attack it.
Spatial Sword!
Swooish!
He sliced the air diagonally, trying to stay far enough away from that being to not catch it within the space of influence of that technique. After all, such a thing would impede Maida's movement ultimately, something that would hinder this training.
And with that, that great beast continued to move around that area, trying its best to evade Minos' powerful attack, which could hurt it considerably.
"Roar!"
It roared as it saw that it did not have much more room to escape, finally using its large black claws to try to counter Minos' earlier move.
Swooish!
Such claws sliced through the air at great speed, creating a few small blades, as Maida jumped to the side with her hind legs.
Crash!
Boom!
"Roar!"
However, after training with Minos for more than 10 minutes, Maida was already exhausted. Consequently, her counterattack was utterly overcome, letting much of Minos' attack continue in her direction.
"Roar!"
After that, she roared in pain, feeling as if 1-centimeter deep cuts had suddenly appeared on various parts of her large body.
"Looks like you've improved a bit, huh?" Minos said this to her, praising the stamina of that Winged Tiger, which previously could not even last 4 minutes in his hands, but now had more than doubled that time.
"Well, you don't have to talk. Get some rest. Later on, we will continue our journey to the capital of this state!"
"Will we do that already? Doesn't master wish to visit other places in this kingdom?" She asked this in a breathless tone, feeling pain as she lay on her belly in the same place she had fallen.
"No."
"This state is quite interesting, with many possibilities in terms of spiritual beasts. Unfortunately, however, there's not much time to waste."
"The war is already at a very advanced stage, and once I return to the Black Plain, we will likely achieve independence in less than a year."
"With that, since I don't have any problems against the organizations in this kingdom, I will only act against the royal family when I go to get the information from the Scourges of the Devil."
"Oh? Then it's a pity that the master won't be able to know more about this state. There are many interesting things around here..." Maida said, advertising her native place.
"Hehe, who knows in the future," Minos commented with a smile on his face, just before he turned away from Maida, making room for her to cultivate.
Right now, knowing the Snow Kingdom was not something so significant to him.
He had, of course, been gathering some information from this place through the villages and towns on his way. But this was not as important as settling his official business here and returning to the Black Plain.
Therefore, he had already reached a point in his journey where he was rushing his pace to finish this mission.
He had obtained some information about what had been happening on the Black Plain recently, so he was already aware that reinforcements from his enemies would arrive in a few more months.
Thus, he had to be in that place to protect his territory and lead his troops in the final battles of this war!
That way, he would leave to learn a little more about the Snow Kingdom in the future, perhaps when he left this region for Elves Island or the Divine Continent.
In any case, these places were still very far away from him, and young Stuart did not think much about them. No, he was much more concerned about the situation of his region, which would be something very relevant to himself for the entire following decade.
As for the rest of the world, he would naturally make plans for these places in the future when his position in this part of the Central Continent was fully stabilized.
Anyway, while waiting for Maida's cultivation session, a great spiritual beast slowly approached Minos while it had a subservient expression on its great ape face.
"Mister, we brought some fruits for you and Miss Maida." That Diamond Monkey said this politely while some of his subordinates brought big dishes with fruits.
"Oh?"
"You are thoughtful, my friends!" Young Stuart smiled just before he sat down on the branch of one of the trees in that place and started eating.
He and Maida had accidentally trespassed into part of the Diamond Monkey territory. And in doing so, he had obviously had to fight many of those beings since it was in their nature to test those who entered their territory.
However, unlike what had happened to Lee and Alison, some high-level Diamond Monkeys had taken a good beating from Minos this time.
After that, they naturally welcomed this young man and his mount into their territory, treating him as a great friend of the tribe.
But none of this had anything to do with Minos' or Maida's past. On the contrary, the beasts of the region would hardly know about them.
However, like beasts that highly valued individual strength, after being beaten by Minos, all they now had for this young man was pure respect.
Because of this, young Stuart was being well served in this place, even if he had not asked for it.
"Well, my friends, it has been nice traveling with you for these past few days, but I will leave your territory later today."
"Is that true, Mister?" That giant being, over 5 meters tall, asked the young human, feeling bad for this sudden notice.
"Hmm, I have a business to attend to, and it won't be convenient to delay any longer..."
"So, that's how it is..."
"Well, I hope Mister will be able to resolve whatever it is in the Snow Kingdom. Any problems, you can count on the support of our tribe." That individual said that proudly.
"We are not as strong as you, sir, but we can help with explorations, secret routes, anything."
"Really?"
"Of course!"
"We always help our friends!"
"Hehehe, so I hope you guys come to the Black Plain," Minos said in a satisfied manner.
...
Hours later, young Stuart and Maida finally left that part of the Diamond Monkey tribe's territory, heading towards the Snow Kingdom's capital.
"Come on, Maida!"
"Time to complete our mission!"
