In the continent of Asden, one's combat capabilities determined one's status in society.

Mana existed in the continent of Asden and one could become a strong Warrior that flowed Mana into their veins to strengthen themselves or command the elements they were attuned to as a Mage.

And thus, throughout Asden's history, it was known that might makes right.

Asden itself was a land filled with races and creatures from all walks of life. From the abundant humans and their kingdoms to the secluded elves, then there was the battle driven beastmen and the variety of tribes, and also the dwarves known for the quality of their craft.

With kingdoms of a variety of races and cultures, it was in due time that conflicts of interest and tension rose between the surface.

And thus, Asden had its first-ever continental-wide war dubbed The Great War.

It all started with the assassination attempt of a certain prince of a kingdom that led said kingdom waging war to the kingdom they've had a grudge against, as they were the ones most likely that done the deed.

The Great War was mostly between the humans, only some other races actively participated aiding the humans.

A majority of the elves just ignored The Great War entirely, content with secluding themselves whilst studying the intricacies of the arcane arts and deepening their connection to the Mana.

Although, some did join the fight as mercenaries to the ones that had the most gold.

The dwarves meanwhile were neutral, they did however supplied high-quality weapons to the highest bidder. They proceeded to collect wealth that would allow their offsprings to do nothing for the next few generations or so.

Some of the beastmen tribes quickly became mercenaries due to their more capable physiques compared to the average foot soldier of a standard human kingdom.

Although war brought a hole to a kingdom's pockets, it was the time to a boon for another force.

The merchants.

Those that would usually buy and sell different commodities that didn't exist in the areas they traversed now became the hot commodity due to some early birds seeing the opportunity of The Great War.

The arms trade.

A kingdom surely couldn't supply its wares of weapons on its own. Be it a lack of resources or manpower, a kingdom's stock would slowly but surely shrink. Previous small-time wars already lasted between five to ten years, not to mention the scale of a war on a continental scale.

Hence, some merchants quickly jumped ship in the arms trade and made their debut to kingdoms with the most gold in the war.

One of those merchant groups was The Darkwood Chamber of Commerce.

The Darkwood Chamber of Commerce is considered a highly influential merchant company in the lands of Asden nowadays.

What started as a small-time merchant company quickly grew due to the war of the forces in Asden, they carried out orders of special weaponry from the dwarves that could change the tides of a war to kingdoms willing to pay high money.

Obscure routes to each nation also helped their fame, albeit goods arrive a bit late, the safety was secured as most merchant groups were prone to be attacked by the opposing kingdom's.

They even went as far as to use different names in each kingdom to lay low and not draw attention towards themselves.

Thus after The Great War ended, The Darkwood Chamber of Commerce cemented themselves as a top player in Asden.

Some kings even wanted to marry off their sons or daughters in hopes of forming ties with them.

Although it took fifty years, The Great War was settled on a peace treaty with the collective support of factions in play.

The human kingdoms were exhausting their resources and found no point anymore if it would destroy themselves in the process.

The Great War even reached the land of the dwarves and elves after a couple of years into the war, thus prompting their involvement and support of the treaty.

The beastmen though begrudgingly stepped down seeing no one wanted to fight anymore, they didn't really rely on standard weaponry seeing their bodies were strong enough on their own most of the time.

And thus one hundred years have passed after The Great War, with some kingdoms fallen during or after the war due to the lack of economy, and some rebellion fronts followed suit in others.

One thing for sure, the merchants were the clear winners of The Great War, not involving themselves in bloodshed but gaining the riches of all involved.

...

The Darkwood Chamber of Commerce nowadays has firmly rooted themselves in various kingdoms, even the other races.

The kingdoms went out of their way to protect a Darkwood caravan entering their land, due to an agreement made that they will only do business with those offering protection to their caravans with some benefit of discounts and such shortly after the war.

Bandit groups made sure to check if a caravan was a Darkwood caravan or not since the client kingdom would surely go out of their way to seek amends to the bandits.

From the mundane needs of commoners like crops, food, and clothing to the luxurious needs of nobles and of the upper class with jewelry, rare antiques and so on.

They still did the arms trade, but only to a limited small amount within a certain timeframe. This was an agreement within the peace treaty that controlled the merchant groups.

...

Daniel Darkwood was the man who pioneered the Darkwood Chamber of Commerce to its golden age during The Great War.

Already retired, he lives with his son and daughter-in-law at one of the numerous Darkwood Manors throughout Asden.

His son, Damien Darkwood did his best upholding the Darkwood name. Daniel knew that the golden age has passed, he just wanted Damien to stabilize the family business and slowly grow safely compared to the explosive growth he made to the family business.

If one looked at Daniel Darkwood, you would've thought the man was in his early fifties, only a couple strands of grey hair in sight, his long raven hair tied into a ponytail paired with clear dark brown eyes that seemed to have seen it all.

Benefits of one attaining a high rank in combat prowess also included the benefit of a long life, as Daniel's true age was just past one hundred years! One hundred and thirty-six specifically.

Back in The Great War, leaders needed sufficient combat strength to command their underlings, merchant groups included. It was an added safety measure to the usual guards protecting them.

Nowadays, it was rare to see the head of a merchant company with the same strength as Daniel. Even his son didn't fully commit to the path of strength.

He was sitting on the front porch of the manor basking in the rays of the sun, seeing his workers maintaining the garden.

He was enjoying the peaceful tranquility of the morning when he suddenly heard a scream.

"Damien dear, come quickly!"

A woman's voice rang out of the manor, this startled Damien as he was busily working on paperwork.

Daniel too got up and headed towards his daughter-in-law. He met his son at the same time on the way.

"Father, do you know what caused Marie to scream?"

Daniel pondered a bit on what would cause his daughter-in-law to scream, he arrived at an answer but decided not to tell his son.

"Let's just see for ourselves shall we?"

They opened the door at the same time only to see her kneeling on the floor in front of a toddler that was barely standing up on his own two feet.

"Look Damien, Father! Little Gordon's on his own two feet!"

Seeing his daughter-in-law's antics he chuckled to himself as he had guessed correctly. Meanwhile, Damien's soul had seemingly left his body as he slumped to the ground and quickly got back up and embracing her.

"Dear God, Marie... do you know how worried I was hearing you scream whilst doing the company's paperwork?"

Hearing that she had worried her husband, Marie looked a bit sullen as she looked down on the floor.

"I'm sorry Damien, I guess I was just delighted to see Little Gordon take his first steps so early, and that's comparing it to David."

Damien looks at his wife and proceeds to laugh at her, sometimes he thinks she would be the death of him one of these days.

Although, he did sign himself into this relationship. Marrying a former stage actress led to some over the too reactions out of her sometimes.

He caressed her hair, beginning to reminisce about his encounter with her.

...

Yes, Marie was not a noble of any kingdom as the peace treaty states that no highly influential merchant company shall marry their offspring into one of the kingdoms.

This was to prevent each other from gaining too much power, keeping themselves in order.

Marie herself was far from nobility, growing up in the sticks, she made a name for herself after joining a theatre group that toured Asden.

On one such occasion, Damien went to one of the towns that the theatre group was performing. He decided to see the play, hoping it would relieve the stress building up. Seeing the play, he was instantly mesmerized by Marie's looks and charm.

Damien himself was approached by many of the upper-class of society, invited to balls and social gatherings, he kept them at an arm's length as they just saw him as a Darkwood, not Damien.

After the play, he went to a local pub intending to browse the local goods and information.

How surprised was he as he saw the woman who captivated his heart was sitting by her lonesome, drinking the night away.

She had no makeup on, but he wouldn't forget such a face.

He made a move and soon got to know her after a few drinks were offered.

At first, she was cold to Damien as most men have approached her with the intent of sexual engagement. How surprised was she that the first thing the man that came to her said that what made him infatuated at her was her face.

Most men would only look at her voluptuous body and saw her as just that, she herself had a simple face when she wasn't on stage with makeup.

This got the ball rolling and they drank away into the night sharing the stories they had to one another.

Thankfully, he was staying there for over a month for data gathering and got to know the stage actress very well.

They spent their days off together, pouring out their feelings and enjoying themselves at the moment.

And on one silent night,

"Marie Viel, will you accept my hand in marriage, and be my bride?"

He knelt on one knee and in his hand was a ring that seemed to cost two years of her salary with the theatre group. She felt tears fell from her eyes as she nodded and accepted his proposal.

She was even more surprised when she learned that he was the son of Daniel Darkwood, she tried to leave him with the excuse of her not being worthy until he embraced her and told her not to leave him.

"As you distanced yourself from men lusting your body, I distanced myself from those seeing me as just a Darkwood. We're the same, and I hope you can see that."

She bawled her eyes out and was grateful that she finally found a man that cared for her, not just her looks.

He was also grateful that she saw him for him and that his identity didn't affect her view on him.

She left the theatre group afterward and accompanied him to his home, a couple of months later the Darkwood heir was off the market.

He was in his fifties but looked like he was in his early thirties, whilst she was in her late twenties.

Although there was an age gap between them, it didn't matter as they found a companion to lean on the darkest of days.

They only decided to have a child five years into the marriage, the next one wouldn't come until another five years.

Thus the two sons of the Darkwood household were born, David and Gordon, five years apart from each other.

...

After reminiscing his encounter with his wife, he was out of it by the sound of heavy panting.

At the door was David, sweating profusely and out of breath. He was in the middle of training with the family's instructor when he heard his mother's scream.

"Mother was being over the top wasn't she Father?" He deadpanned seeing his mother hug his little brother and not the bad thoughts he had in his head.

Damien chuckled and gestured his son to come closer, as soon as he was close he pulled him in for a family hug and laughed his heart out.

Daniel smiled at the sight of his son and his family, even reminiscent of his wife.

How happy she would have loved to see their grandchildren.