The Rise of the Black Plain

The group followed Strin after the creature called them, and Minos felt it was worth following the native of this world.

On their hour-long journey from their meeting point, Strin would lead them along a special path where none of the subterranean parasitic creatures the group had sensed over the past few days were present.

The group noticed this and learned that there were special paths through this area where they could travel unobserved by these creatures, where the natural resources in the area were abundant and toxins-free.

Amid this, Strin tried to improve the vocabulary of the people in Minos' group, showing them various things and teaching them the names of each of the things they saw on their way.

An hour was enough for the group to learn practically all the names of natural things, such as earth, sky, stone, sand, water, leaves, some living creatures' names, and variations on the basic names.

The language of Strin was not complex. There were several basic words in it that could be modified to form other words that were related despite their differences.

With these teachings, he helped the group become more fluent in his language, one of the six languages of Zocarro.

Then, after an hour of moving around, Strin stopped in front of the group near a cliff in the area they were in.

He motioned for the group to come closer, then pointed down at Minos. "City. That's an area where many creatures live, work, and trade."

This time, Minos' group understood what Strin meant almost immediately. They still had some difficulties, but they understood the main message of this 'ant.'

Minos' group looked down, and everyone there noticed at the base of the cliff the silhouette of a stone city, a place not so big compared to the biggest cities in the Spiritual World but quite busy, with many beings coming and going through the streets.

The streets and buildings there were very different from what they had in the Spiritual World, but none of them were very surprised. They had expected the beings of this world to be physically different from them, and so the cities and such would be adapted to bodies with different needs from their own.

As the group looked around the area, which must have had some 50,000 inhabitants, some of them muttering to each other, Strin explained.

"Zocarro is a huge planet. There are different nations, tribes, and powers of all kinds. Also, beings from outside our world, such as yourselves, frequently come and go from our planet. So cities worldwide can be quite different from what you see here." It said while gesturing, trying to speak slowly and make it clear what it was referring to.

"This is a native city in our area, so if you go there, you'll find a really traditional Zocarro place. But this place is influenced by the Empyrean Ants, while many other native races influence other traditional places in our world... So it may be that other places you visit in the future will be very different from this one.

Some places will be more receptive to beings from outside my world, while others will be more hostile. Especially here, you should be careful. Space explorers are very much frowned upon."

The robots in the group understood Strin's words perfectly and quickly helped those who didn't understand certain parts of the 'ant's' speech.

"So your world is used to the arrival and departure of beings from outside?" Minos asked with interest.

"Yes, such movements have occurred on Zocarro for a long time. As far as I know, it's been going on forever." The 'ant' looked at Minos.

Maximillian then asked. "Where are there cities that are open to us? Where do you think we can better understand this world and try to find a way to return home?"

Strin looked at Maximillian respectfully and said. "The closest place to where we are that can meet those requirements is Examire."

"Examire?"

"Examire is the name of a universal city not far from here. If you travel six tioisk, you'll get there."

"What?" Several people in the group asked at the same time.

Strin explained. "One tioisk is the amount of time it takes Zocarro to travel around Sree three times."

"Sree?" Ruth asked.

Strin pointed to the sky, where there was a pink star 30 times larger than the one that illuminated the Spiritual World.

"That is Sree. One tioisk is the time it takes Zocarro to circle Sree three times."

The level 99 robot did the calculations and said. "1 tioisk is the equivalent of 4 months in our measure of time. So 6 tioisk is 24 months or 2 years."

Maximillian looked at the 'ant' and exclaimed. "All that?"

"Zocarro is very big. Believe me, that's not much. If you tried to cross our world, it would take you 100 tioisk, even at this Sovereign's top speed." He said as he pointed at Maximilian.

"Sovereign?" Maximillian and Minos frowned.

"What's that?" Minos asked curiously.

Strin had expected them not to know the nomenclature of the levels in this world and explained. "Sovereign is the name for those who are stronger than Mortals, us, and are at the beginning of their Divine Journey. They are weaker than the cultivators of the Supreme stage."

The people in Minos' group looked at each other and finally received confirmation that there was something above level 100 in this world and that there was a well-defined hierarchy, which meant that they could access the knowledge about it as long as they traveled through this world.

Maximillian clenched his fists in determination, feeling that this was his chance to become stronger. At the same time, Minos thought about the opportunities and problems this would bring them.

"I see..." Minos muttered.

Strin said. "In Examire, you can find a way back to where you came from and also opportunities. Gopok is a place that offers many opportunities and freedoms for space explorers. You can do many things there and even live on Zocarro permanently if you're interested.

I don't recommend that you try this in places other than this civilization. Although some beings on Zocarro may not segregate you immediately, many will try to eliminate you as soon as they can.

Only in civilizations that are friendly to space explorers can you count on a more positive attitude towards you. Outside of those places, it's too dangerous to live. Space explorers have a terrible track record in our world, having caused many wars and tribal problems that have led to the deaths of many native and alien beings."

"Is that so?" Maximilian said. "Then I thank you for your words. But why are you willing to talk to us about all this?"

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