Four Supreme Power of the World

  By the time the girls and children returned, Master Foru had just finished upgrading the formation. He wiped the sweat on his brows, looking at the formation with a satisfied smile before leaving, but not before assuring he would come back to finish the job.

  He exited the house to see the group. He gave them a nod before leaving the house, the girls looked at the stranger with slight suspicion, the only reason they didn't stop him was because they remembered an expert in formation would come to their house.

  They enter the house to the sight of Ryker wolfing the food, clearly famished by how fast the food disappeared. They also see the servant of Hal Family, who gives them a nod of acknowledgment. 

  "Why are you here?" Mashia asked, the man answered the question swiftly, "I want to make sure our benefactor isn't cheated by anyone, though someone from the Craftsmen Alliance wouldn't really do such a thing,"

  "Craftsman Alliance?" Ina asked, clearly hearing the name for the first time.

  "Oh right, you used to live in the remote area. Craftsman Alliance is simply a group consisting of crafters, people who created items and auxiliary items for cultivators. People like alchemists, blacksmiths, formation masters, talisman masters, and others with similar professions.

  They are part of the Four Supreme Power of the World,"

  "Four Supreme Power of the World?" Era asked this time, hearing the term for the first time.

  "Four Supreme Power is four inter-realm organizations that have branches all over the world. They are widely recognized as the most powerful forces in the world, surpassing others in terms of reach, connection, and influence.

  Part of the reason for their vast reach, even having branches in remote areas, is because they maintained neutrality. Their members could join in to fight any side, of course, but the organization as a whole maintained neutrality, not supporting any forces.

  The Four Supreme Powers are the Craftsman Alliance I mentioned earlier, the Adventure Guild, which I'm sure all of you are familiar with, the Merchant Confederation, an alliance of merchant groups that accept new members, and last but not least, the Academy Union, a group of powerful schools and colleges focusing on nurturing the new generations.

  These four powers could easily destroy any other forces if they wanted to. The four powers even have an alliance with each other, to not do something that would incur the other wrath. 

  Besides the Academy Union, the other powers have their holds in the capital city. Adventure Guild has five branches, which extend to the 5 major cities. The Craftsman Alliance has a huge building where people with different professions study there, trying to expand their knowledge and understanding of their work.

  As for the Merchant Confederation, they were different as they accepted an entire group instead of a single person. And that group would be all considered one member. The Mariz Merchant Group, owned by the Maza Family, one of the three great families is a part of the Merchant Confederation,"

  Hearing the man's explanation, made everyone, including Ryker who had stopped eating, look at him with an unsightly face. To hear about such a powerful organization so close to them. However, they can be relieved that the four powers didn't have any interest in remote areas.

  Plus, they can be considered a part of one of the great powers. Though, that did make Ryker have one last question.

  "Why did they try to expand so much? Wouldn't it be easy for said founder of the powers, to say, create a nation or something? Wouldn't that make more sense," he asked out loud, the man sighing at the question.

  "Believe me, many other people asked this question. No one has any answer. In the end, everyone just decided the founders were magnanimous people," hearing him say it didn't quell his curiosity. For everything must have a reason.

  However, he knew he wouldn't get any more information from the man. He gave the man a nod, the man returned it before heading outside, the sun already setting.

  Ryker looked at them with expectation, "Do you have any food because I'm starving?"

-x-

  Having dinner, Ryker decided to spend the night reading the books they had bought. They must found many books that interest them, judging by how they also pulled up stashes of books. In the end, they gave him 7 books, all containing information regarding the Mariz Barony, its capital city and surroundings, and the resources present in the area.

The one he currently reading was about the founding of the barony. He looked forward to reading how a Genesis Source expert founded a vassal kingdom of a powerful nation 

  "The Mariz Barony was founded 50 years ago by Baron Mariz. It was created on the land he received from the king of Birak Kingdom for his service in the war against a rival kingdom. He brought along several of his followers, people from the army he led, and founded the barony.

  The Birak Kingdom supported the barony by giving it a loan that it could pay without interest, allowing it to develop in a short 50 years. Besides, the baron, he was also supported by his three biggest allies.

  The Hal Family, who have the most hold in the military. Their members often become part of the city guards and important figures in the army of the Mariz Barony. 

  The Maza Family is a family that focuses on trading and business. They are responsible for maintaining the economy of the barony, with their members working to maintain trade between the other nations. 

  The Gurdon Family is the one involved with the Dark Market of Mariz Barony. Dark Market was a similar concept to what Alten City has but on a much larger scale. They make sure the more questionable practice only happened in the underworld and make sure it didn't escalate.

So those are the names of all the three great families. Of course, there are other families out there, split into three ranks, 1st rate, 2nd rate, and 3rd rate, the last one being the lowest. In fact, the Tol Family is a 3rd rate family.

  Maybe there is some kind of information about them, one he could exploit to end their entire line, similar to what they did to Era's family. His thought of vengeance was stopped by Era, who shouted, "Ryker, don't come in yet, please," 

  Hearing she said it, he wondered what they were doing. They should be ready to sleep. Or maybe they want to do it, the option becoming more feasible the more he thought about it. He hoped they would do it, for he has a lot of pent-up lust.