Each major alchemy guild had its presence spread throughout the world.

They had their main branch in each empire, which were supported by subsidiary or minor branches in every city and across the remote areas of the respective empire.

The capital city of the Veltran Empire had one such major branch of Syma Alchemists’, which was currently filled with people from all over the empire, including commoners, nobles, as well as traders and merchants who wanted to negotiate new business deals with the guild.

As it was one of Syma’s major branches in the empire, its structure was big enough to match the majesty of the guild which owned it.

The words Syma Alchemists’ were displayed at the very top of the building.

"It’s intimidating."

A little boy no more than ten years of age spoke to his father, who stood by his side, observing the building in silence.

"Being a major economic powerhouse means they have to keep displaying their public image at the best level. Any mistakes in doing that could cause them a considerable amount of damage on the world level."

The father, who was one of the richest merchants in the Veltran Empire, explained to his son, who would soon start to take part in their family business.

The Belgreth family had always been involved in several different businesses, their presence being one of the most dominant in the Veltran Empire.

They even had close connections to the current royalty of the empire, giving them an edge over the others.

Still... Innail had always been a modest individual who respected every other merchant in his line of work and didn’t abuse his influence in any way.

House Belgreth had always shared close ties with the Veltran royal family, which had resulted in Innail being close to the current emperor of the Veltran Empire—Mair Veltra.

Emperor Mair had even given Innail the place of a blood brother.

Along with his ties to the royalty, Innail also shared a good friendship with Castor Frost, who was a friend of Mair Veltra.

Innail’s personal relations, coupled with the ancestral status of his house, had made their family one of the strongest in the empire even without being a duchy.

"But still... isn’t it a waste of resources?"

Allan, the eldest son of Innail, asked his father, who always had a hint of reverence in his eyes when speaking about Syma.

Innail was someone who liked to operate on certain morals, and helping people was one of them.

That naturally led to the charity campaigns of Syma receiving a lot of support from House Belgreth, as Innail personally liked how the guild operated.

"When you operate on the world level... such expenses can’t even be considered petty. They are non-existent for economic powers like Syma."

Though Allan still had his doubts over the effectiveness of spending such a vast amount of resources just to showcase the prestige of the guild, he still nodded his head in understanding.

"You felt the structure was intimidating at the start, didn’t you?"

At Innail’s question, Allan nodded his little head in acknowledgement as he remembered the words that he had spoken moments earlier.

"That intimidation... it’s necessary to remind people in whose presence they are standing, and it also helps the guild to gain a psychological advantage in any sort of negotiations with its customers."

"But wouldn’t fear make people stay away from the guild?"

Allan questioned his father, with his brows raised.

Seeing such an expression on the child’s face, Innail couldn’t help but chuckle before patting his son’s head.

"Fear... it’s not always a bad thing. If you can gain something while managing the fear, then why shouldn’t you? Doing business with Syma would always be profitable for everyone, so... they don’t necessarily abandon their ambitions only because they were intimidated."

Though Innail explained it in simple words, things were more complicated than that. And it wasn’t like grown adults would fear a guild only because its building looked majestic.

"Let’s go."

Though Allan still had some more questions to ask, seeing his father walk towards the entrance of the guild, he followed along while at the same time taking in the view of all sorts of people entering the guild.

The entrance door itself was a tall one, spanning several feet, as guards stood on either side of the door.

They weren’t there to stop anyone, but to discipline the people who caused problems at the guild every now and then.

Stepping in, the sight that greeted Allan made the kid widen his eyes in amazement.

A massive hall stood before him, with numerous people moving across the area.

Some were among the staff of the guild while others were customers who had come to buy the potions they needed.

Innail didn’t stop in his tracks as he walked towards one of the counters of the guild. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

There was a line behind the counter, so Innail had to wait for a while.

Syma didn’t discriminate between its customers and always treated everyone equally.

Innail already knew about it, so he wasn’t offended in the slightest.

Allan too stood in line with his dad, watching the people standing before them with curiosity in his eyes.

Not everyone here was a noble, so Allan found it interesting to see people in old clothes, which were even worse than the ones the servants at his house used.

Within a few minutes, the line reduced, allowing Innail to talk with the staff at the counter.

"I had an appointment with the manager in charge here."

Innail spoke while passing a card to the staff member.

The card was proof of the appointment and had all the details regarding it.

The receptionist politely took the card in his hand before entering it into the database.

There was a moment of silence as the receptionist looked through the details in the card that were present in the database.

"Sir, your appointment has been confirmed. Please take a seat for the time being, a staff member will guide you—"

BOOOOM!

Before the receptionist could complete his statement, the entire building of the guild shook as a loud explosion echoed from the entrance.

"What the fuck’s happening?!"

"It was an explosion!!"

"Take cover!"

Immediately after the explosion, chaos quickly enveloped the entire guild, as people panicked, trying their best to get away from the area of the explosion.

Smoke had covered the entire area, as the debris from the blast began to settle down.

"Cough... cough."

Innail coughed up some blood as he tried to stand up from his place.

Though the blast had occurred at the entrance, its impact had thrown him away.

Innail wasn’t specialised in combat, so he had sustained quite a few injuries across his body, making his head bleed as a result.

Though he had somehow managed to retain his consciousness.

"Allan?"

After coming to his senses, the first thing Innail did was to look for his son, who should have been near—

"Allan?!"

No matter where he looked, Innail couldn’t find Allan.

The smoke had begun to settle down, yet Innail’s vision was still blurry.

"Alla—"

"D-Dad."

Just as Innail was about to shout his son’s name again, Allan called his father in a weak voice.

Innail’s eyes widened in realization as he quickly crawled towards the source of the voice.

Yes... the explosion had injured Innail’s legs, making him unable to stand up.

But somehow, by luck... Allan was nearby.

Innail quickly made his way towards his son, without caring for the pain that the movements brought him.

For Innail, his family was above everything else.

"It h-hurts."

A few metres away, Allan was sprawled on the ground, with blood pooling beneath his body.

A small slab of debris was resting above Allan’s body... though for the little boy, it was a huge weight placed upon him, crushing him with every passing moment.

Seeing his son’s state, just as Innail was about to—

Tap. Tap. Tap.

In the chaos, the sounds of organised footsteps somehow made the entire surroundings quiet, as all eyes were focused on the entrance.

It wasn’t like the footsteps had a loud sound, but it was the nature of the sound that made everyone focus their attention on its source.

After all, each footstep was accompanied by mana, which amplified the effect of its sound.

Just as the smoke settled down, faint outlines could be seen entering through the entrance that had already been blasted away by the explosion.

Men...

Numerous men stepped through the entrance, or whatever was left of it.

All of them were covered in black clothes, with black masks covering their faces.

Their eyes were the only thing that one could notice, and that too only if someone really tried to focus their attention on the finer details.

"Authorities?"

That was the first question that popped into the minds of many.

Maybe... the explosion had attracted the attention of the authorities who were in the vicinity of the building.

But—

Wasn’t this too fast?

It should have taken more time for the authorities to arrive—

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

Spurt!

The first head rolled down.