"There are human mages who have passions for refining tools and weapons. Only a handful became known blacksmiths but they could not compete with the dwarves. Moreover, the elves seemed to monopolize the medicinal herb industry in the village. Human mages can concoct potions but the high-grade ones, concocted and offered by the elves, were the most coveted." Bryan pondered on certain facts about their village with the other races aside from the human mages.
"However, with the Chuas joining the fray, we might see a certain shift in the paradigm of this village. I am still questioning their motives for coming here. I did not ask Sig though but with their level, they could go to any Liberty city-states of this continent." By this time, the adventurer stared at his older brother as if asking for the other's opinion.
"You probably forget that there is a barrier that surrounded the primeval forest extending to the southwest and southeast of the continent, all of the central portion with a few sections from the north. A formation has been activated for millennia to shield 80% of the area of the primeval forest." Langford responded as he rose from his seat, trudging to the corner of his office where a dark board was installed. Facing the dark board, he briefly paused the conversation. With a swipe of his left hand, the board transformed magically into a detailed map of the continent, LigaYa.
"Three city-states are in the south, two in the west, one in the north, and four in the east. I have heard that the Chuas arrived from the East Gate. But then that barrier was jointly created by the higher beings of the alliance of city-states to counter the beast hordes and infliction of hordes of monsters that wreaked havoc in their respective cities. If they are powerful enough to cross the barrier, then they probably came from the Eastern part of the continent in one of the city-states there." The guild master stated his assumption regarding the new arrivals in their village while his index finger pointed at the eastern section of the continent on the map.
"I have noticed Sig's facial feature to be a mix of the Zhan people, though the Orientals are composed of different races. But, Bro, I am still amazed at your capacity to have this map. Perhaps, you are among the few to have this aside from the Village Chief." Bryan remarked with enthusiasm as he gazed at the map on that corner of the wall of the guild master's office.
"Only the masters of the guilds and alliances have this kind of map in their office, of course, aside from the Village Chief." Langford turned to his brother to see the other's reaction as he offered, "How about tea?"
"Well, Sig also gave me these bottles of ale. I have four with me to share with you." Bryan withdrew the bottles from his storage ring.
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"I also got this from Mr. Chua yesterday after they finalized the construction of the building. In two days, they are done with the structure including the interior. Amazing, isn't it?" Langford shared another piece of information, which made him chuckle with great amusement as he remembered two of Sigmund's sons performed two hand gestures and seals to magically erect the building from the ground.
The guild master used to witness this kind of performance in constructing structures with the earth mages. His business ventures included construction, hiring the best earth mages, and contracting dwarves to construct buildings for the village. The wealth of the Berry family became more considerable with this business though they had a competition with the dwarves in this industry.
Two firms in the village composed of earth human mages catered in building structures for homes as they were both under contract by the Village Chief. A clan of dwarves also collaborated with the human earth mages when they were required to build structures on a tight schedule.
Nonetheless, the period of construction usually lasted from five to 15 days, depending on the scale of the construction. But the exemption happened right before his eyes the moment he was dealing with the Chua company.
As he witnessed the method and process of constructing the building out from the ground and finishing in mere hours simply astonished him. The commencement event took place right after they finalized the deed of sale and other pertinent documents for the permits and licenses to operate in the village.
That happened a day before. When Bryan Berry entered the shop after his adventure with his team, was the day of the soft opening of the shops, and the company, as a whole.
"What the fuck! In just two days?" Bryan exclaimed as he suddenly stood from his seat, clearly indicating his astonishment. "That seems impossible!"
"Actually, It took them a day to finish the construction. I included the day when they first arrived in my office as part of the processing time to have their company operating legally in the village." Langford sniggered, glad at seeing his brother's surprised look. "Just witnessing that makes me wonder about the possibility of the future of this village."
The guild master went to the area on the map as he continued to impart things to his brother. "When you learn of the map of this continent, you will be amazed that within that barrier of the central portion of the continent, more than half of the land area of the continent is situated here, comprising over forty percent of the total population of the continent."
Langford paused as he magically emitted a golden light drawing the area on the map where the barrier was supposed to form. Bryan watched his brother while his frown deepened when he saw the area glowing with the light on the map that he learned as the perimeter of the barrier. It was larger than he expected.
The continent where they were situated was shaped like a giant cumulus cloud where the eastern part protruding more than the west. The southern part was almost flat at the edge but three city-states were situated on that section.