Hours passed, and the sun was already rising on the horizon when the last soldier accompanying Minos finally reached level 40, the beginning of the General Spiritual stage!
As Minos and his group were about to engage in combat with the forces of Darell, he decided to transmit a Silver-grade movement technique to his soldiers.
With this technique, these soldiers would be able to dodge enemy attacks even if the other side were a few levels stronger than themselves. In this way, Minos hoped to win such a fight.
But he wasn't taking unnecessary risks here. As a graduate of the Spiritual Academy, a noble institute in the City of the Setting Sun, he was well aware that the Brown Kingdom's noble families could not send Spiritual Kings to protect their children throughout the world.
Therefore, Minos was sure that the General Spiritual stage limited the enemy side. And most likely, they were below level 45, as the trip to Stone Island was not so dangerous for people in this range of strength.
An excellent example of this is the case of merchant Elen Nash. Despite being a noblewoman of one of the most prominent families on Stone Island, she was only accompanied by a guard at level 47.
Therefore, according to Minos' calculations, Darell Silva's guards should be between 2 and 4. As for spiritual power, they should be below level 45.
'Now that they've leveled up, I'm going to buy high-level grade-1 weapons for each of them. But, unfortunately, I still can't pay for anything more than that… Yet, even if I could, it wouldn't be as if there were so many low-grade grade-2 weapons being sold around…' Minos thought to himself.
After a while, Minos met with all his soldiers. He then began to expound his thoughts. "Ehh, good job, everyone. Now that you've reached level 40 let's go out and get weapons for each of you. Those of medium-level grade-1 will not be good enough for you from now on."
"Soon, that young master of the Silva family will come after us, so today, after we buy the weapons, we are going to leave the city and wait for them to come to us. That way, we will have an advantage at the start of the fight."
After hearing that, all ten men were a little anxious and happy. That's because they had reached a level that they would never have dreamed of reaching and being stronger. They wanted to fight to test their new strengths.
They would also rise to the rank of Sergeant, and soon they would start earning twice what they received as Corporals. This was 800 low-grade crystals, a small fortune for anyone who has grown accustomed to the poverty of the Dry City.
"Come on." Sergeant Pyke told the rest of the group while he led them.
…
As they passed through the city's busy streets, Minos finally found the place where he had been appointed to go. Although Portland also has a smith's guild, many of Stone Island's numerous specialists in this field did not conduct business within the guild building.
So, after looking for information at the Hotel Olson, Minos discovered an excellent place to buy high-level grade-1 spiritual weapons in the city center.
It was a place called The Wolf's Den, a store that sold various types of spiritual weapons of grade-1.
According to the information that Minos had received, despite being a little more expensive than in other stores, the products of this store in question were of outstanding quality. There was also a large number of weapons in stock, contrary to what could be seen elsewhere.
Minos and his group then stopped in front of a store that looked like a cave in the middle of the mountain. There was a sign with a big blank name on it, The Wolf's Den. There were also symbols of spears, swords, bows, arrows, sabers, hammers, etc.
Minos' group then entered the place.
As soon as they entered, many weapons could be seen around the room.
There was also not much movement. There seemed to be less than five people shopping at the place at that very moment.
"Good morning. I would like to see the high-level grade-1 weapons, which are available for sale in this store." Minos said while holding his hands behind his back.
As soon as he said that, an older man with a full beard and white hair looked over at Minos and answered. "High-level grade-1 weapons, there are 17 of them that are on sale right now."
The older man then started to point to the different weapons visible to anyone who entered that place.
Minos saw that most of them were swords, with a few spears, sabers, and a single war hammer.
"Choose your weapons." He said as he looked at the ten men around him.
When he heard this, the older man looked at Minos with a surprised expression. He would never expect this young man actually to be buying weapons of this level for his subordinates!
Although this type of weapon was unsuitable for people in the 5th stage of cultivation, it was widespread for people in this northern region of the Central Continent to wield weapons one or two levels below their cultivation level.
'This young man must have a great force behind him to spend so much on his subordinates.' The older man thought as he scratched his beard.
After a while, Minos' soldiers chose their weapons. There were five swords, three spears, one saber, and one war hammer among the preferred weapons.
The older man then spoke with an indifferent expression on his face. "For these ten weapons, the price is 59,000 low-grade crystals."
After hearing this, Minos immediately paid for the crystals and then asked the older man. "Sir, I will soon be out hunting, and I want to trap my prey. Can you tell me a good place that sells spiritual arrays here in Portland?"
The older man then replied with a smile on his face. "Oh! Then you will hunt, hehe. I have a friend who is an array master. He has a store 300 meters from here. You just follow this same street. The name of the store is Burton's Alley."
After hearing this, Minos thanked the older man and moved on.
And It didn't take long for him and his group to arrive at the store that the older man had indicated.
It was a completely different place from the previous store. This place looked like a square box and completely black. There was a green light with the name Burton's Alley.
After a while, Minos bought a high-level grade-1 spiritual array from this store, one that was specializing in stunning those below level 40 for 30 seconds and slowing down the strength and speed of those above this level. But, of course, the stronger the enemy, the lesser the effects.
Minos spent 22,000 low-grade crystals on this array. And after leaving the store, he and his group left the city and went to a mountainous region a few kilometers away.
…
Meanwhile, in the hotel where the Silva family's young master was staying, two men watched the view of Portland from the balcony of their room. In contrast, the young Darell ate his breakfast quietly.
At that moment, the protector Philip, who had left the previous night to obtain the location of his targets, entered the room with a smile on his face. "Young master, I already have the location of those people."
"Oh! That is good. Where is he?"
"Earlier today, he and his group were staying at the Hotel Olson, but they went out shopping early. First, they went to a blacksmith's shop and then to an array master."
"After that, they left the city on the northwest side. We can follow their trail from there. So, there are not many ways for them to escape us, hehe." Guard Philip said with a satisfied expression.
For him, this behavior of the group of Minos did not differ from that they are giving up their own lives. They were basically leaving a safe place, where it would be challenging to kill someone in daylight, and were going to a place where no one would know if they killed or were killed by something or someone...
"Haha, those guys are making it easier for us. I want to see their faces when they are surprised by our group." Darell said with a smile on his face.
"Come on. I can't wait to get my new sword, hehe."