While everything went smoothly once Priest Fred left the meeting, Liam tasted some lingering tension, both from the Church's representative's rather abrupt departure and the general mood among the branching experts from the Guilds.
Nevertheless, everyone pretended that everything was fine, agreeing on a date for the alchemical contest, even revealing additional information about the area's alchemists and arranging a place to stay for the couple.
Apparently, the master Colleen believed wouldn't heed the contest's call belonged to one of the neighboring Sects, basically fulfilling a role similar to Horace Rauret's back in the Pale Moon Sect.
However, be it due to lower skills or the presence of a competitor, the Sects' alchemist didn't have a true alchemical monopoly. He actually wasn't too productive in terms of sheer number of products, albeit their quality was exceptional.
