Drew was awestruck. Even though his emotions couldn't be read since he was wearing the mask, Senior Neilson could tell from his body that he was looking at him in admiration. 

"Do you think you can do it?" He asked almost as if he were challenging him. 

Drew shook his head. 

"Here?" 

Senior Neilson chuckled. 

"Not quite. This is too grand of a stage for you." Senior Neilson tilted his head, his ears pointing towards the double doors. "Come with me." 

Drew followed as Senior Neilson pushed open the double doors. From there, Drew was welcomed to a grand casino hall. Long tables wooden with gamblers placing their bets as roulettes spun and the crisp cards were being shuffled. The sounds of slot machines spinning hit his ears, the gears could be heard whirling inside the machines. The flashing lights from the DJ stand almost giving him epilepsy. The holographic signs passing by his eyes every two seconds. The smell of tobacco hitting his nose. The bells ringing whenever someone hits a jackpot. The large Borealis tree in the center of the room, it's curved trunk and umbrella canopy serving as the centerpiece to the bar area. The many brokers bustling around, accommodating as many customers as possible to various conference rooms some even dealing cards or chips, serving drinks, or secretly observing people coming in and out of the area. It was chaotic but this was Yerburn's nightlife. 

"Welcome to the Borealis." Senior Neilson patted Drew on the shoulder before guiding Drew over to a table where an intense game of Blackjack was taking place. "You will be working here, Blackjack Table 45." 

"Have you ever played Blackjack?" Senior Neilson asked for clarification. 

"Yes," Drew replied quickly. Drew was quite familiar with the game. Whenever Drew was on break during his time working at the soup kitchen, the staff members would always gather around and play a few rounds of Blackjack. The objective of the game was to try to beat the dealer. It was a game of both luck and probability, perfect for simple deductions and predictions. Every time the staff played it, Drew would win. You could say that he had an affinity for the game. 

"Well, that makes things easier." Senior Neilson rejoiced, leading Drew over to the table where two other employees were helping to proctor the game. Both of them wearing similar attire to him. Their steel plate mask made it quite obvious that they were also brokers.

"These two will be your colleagues." Senior Neilson gestured with his hand as the two brokers bowed at him with respect before resuming their work. "When one of them is occupied by a client, your job is to make sure the game continues until you get taken by a client. You can tell if a customer is a client if they have a purple chip with the Borealis tree symbol on it flipped over. Once you identify them, finish the last round of the game and let your colleague take over. Take the client over to one of the meeting rooms surrounding the area and begin negotiations. From there, if the client holds up a blue-chip, that means they want to physically fight you."

"Wait what!" This was all going too fast for Drew to comprehend. "Fight me?" 

"Yes, the way Crow's Eye conducts transactions is quite unique. We give our clients the option to fight our brokers if they want to purchase the information at a specific, discounted price, if they don't like their broker's price or the price after negotiations. However, the minimum price they can request depends on the kind of information they seek. Either way, that'll all be sorted out on the interface on your mask as you conduct the negotiation and will update in accordance with your thoughts. The most important part is if the client want to challenge you. If they do, you have to take them to the arena two floors below. Each meeting room has a door that leads to it. Once you take them to the arena, there is a three-minute timer. If the client wins, they get to pay the price requested. If the broker wins, the client has to pay the price the broker requests, there is a maximum price a broker can request and the broker cannot exceed that. It's how we prevent ourselves from being too greedy. Additionally, the broker can refuse to sell the information if it seems too dangerous in the client's possession but client still has to pay the broker for challenging him or her." 

"What about a draw?" Drew asked.

"If it's a draw, then the Crow's Eye database will automatically set a price in the middle of both the broker's and client's prices, and the client will have to pay the database's generated price." 

"Regardless, we brokers still receive 40% of the profit."

"Correct. Once your transaction is complete, make your way back to your assigned station and repeat the process. Now that I've explained the basics, I'll leave you now. Your shift ends at 12:30 AM and it's currently 8:30 PM. Make good use of the time. I'll call you at around 12:00 to explain your future schedule arranged by Teacher." 

"Okay." Drew nodded. 

"Good, I will see you then." Senior Neilson waved as headed back to his office to deal with another client. 

With that, Senior Neilson was gone and Drew was left alone with the two other brokers. This was going to take Drew some time to get used to. 

"You're new?" One of the brokers who was standing behind the table asked. 

"Yeah," Drew replied. "The boss was just showing me the basics. Just toss me into this mess on the first day."

"Ha," he laughed hysterically. "That's normal. The boss always performs one transaction in front of the newbie before throwing them into this madness."

Drew was astonished. 

"Really?" 

"Of course! The boss did the same thing when I first came here and the same with her." The broker snapped pointing to himself and the female broker who was about to leave with a client as the round came to an end. 

"How long was that?" Drew asked as the male broker was straightening out his uniform as the female broker lead her client away from the table. 

"Three months." He said bluntly as he began the next round of Blackjack. "For her, it was four months. Ya know, on my first day, I wasn't as calm as you are now."

"You can't say for sure. I've only been here for less than an hour." 

"That is true. Some advice for your rookie, adapt quickly or else you'll be swallowed by your own clients." 

"I'll keep that in mind," Drew replied observing the male broker distributing cards to the players. 

Nothing happened for a few minutes until a young man, around the age of twenty, placed down his purple chip and dragged the male broker away. As soon as he left, the female broker came back standing patiently behind Drew with her hands at her side as she waits for her turn. There were five players at the table and Drew had won several matches against them. Some of them were staring at him with malicious intent. A sixth player had finally come, filling in the empty gap that the previous player, the client, had left before leaving with the male broker. The new player flicked a chip up in the air as Drew collected the cards from the last round. Catching the chip in midair, the new player placed on the playing area, enough where Drew could see it but discretely enough so the other players couldn't. The 'player' was a client. 

With a single thought, Drew asked the mask what meeting rooms were open. There were a few so Drew selected the closest one which was directly across from his table. With the meeting room booked, Drew left his position at Blackjack Table 45, signaling to his client to follow him. The client followed, taking his chips as he lit a cigarette, the fumes flying in Drew's direction. He licked his lips like a hungry wolf ready to hunt down his prey and Drew could hear him mutter: "This will be easy." 

It seems he knew immediately that Drew was a new broker for the Crow's Eye. However, the one mistake he shouldn't have made that night was to never underestimate his opponent especially when his opponent was another predator was himself. 

Drew opened the door to the meeting room letting his client go in first. 

In the meeting room, there were only two chairs, a lamp hanging from the ceiling, a table, and a door on the other side which Drew assumes leads down to the arena. There were no windows and no other lights. No other objects in the room. It seemed more like an interrogation room in a police department instead of a grand office or meeting room similar to Senior Neilson's. 

"I don't even get to meet the brains behind the Crow's Eye." The client grumbled fixing his gray suit blazer as he took a seat down in the chair closest to the door, brushing back his dirty blond hair, revealing his forehead.

"Sorry," Drew said. "You get me, instead." 

"Very well," The client said leaning back in his chair before extinguishing his cigarette in the ashtray provided. 

Drew dragged out the chair from the other side. Its feet dragging across the concrete ground. 

"So what information do you desire?" Drew asked taking a seat down as the mask analyzed his client's information.

His name was Ying Uenkram, a Human of Chinese and Russian descent. According to Crow's Eye database, Uenkram is known to the public as a playboy to the Uenkram Family, who owns many banks on Kraus, but beneath that foolish surface of his, he's the monster who has caused the downfall of many of his competitors in the drug-making industry. In the underworld, he's known as the Weasel, a new drug lord who rose to the top of the industry in five months. He is known for being devious and damn right the information was accurate. Scanning through his information, Drew had found out that Uenkram is will to go as far as intentionally targets weaker brokers in order to gain the best deals on the information, sometimes even going as far to find out a broker's identity in real life and threatening them and their families if they don't work for him. Truly an underhanded method but one that is most effective. It seems his intention today was to swallow Drew into that circle as well, knowing Drew was aware of that too. How bold of him. 

"I seek knowledge on the students attending Star Military Academy." 

"Any specific Class or year?" 

"All of them will suffice." 

Drew folded his hands together. He knew this transaction was going to be a risky one. If this man got that information, the students would be put in danger. Drew had to avoid that at all costs. Even the interface on the mask had advised that he should prevent giving out this information, especially to this man. 

"May I ask why?" 

"Potential customers for my products. You know how gullible those students are. They'll even go as far as buying things that'll give them the upper hand in classes and competitions." He said lighting another cigarette. 

"I'm sure you are aware that we cannot sell you that information," Drew said bluntly.

"Of course, I'm not asking the Crow's Eye to sell it to me. Rather, I'm asking you, Mr. Broker." He replied confidently. 

Drew predicted what would come next. 

"I'm willing to pay you, Mr. Broker, a hefty 100 million for all the info." 

He was underestimating Drew. He'd assumed Drew would be greedy for this kind of money knowing that most brokers are but Drew was different. Despite the desperate need for money, he wouldn't stoop down that low just for it especially if there were people he personally knew involved. 

"Do you think 100 million is enough? You are belittling the importance of this information..." 

Uenkram tapped the ashes off his cigarette, letting them fall into the ashtray with a sort of elegance. 

"I think 100 million is the perfect price considering the information is just on 'students'-" 

How naive. Drew internally chuckled. This man is seriously underestimating me. 

"However," Drew cut him off, "do you know what kinds of students make it into Star?" 

Silence. He couldn't answer and Drew took note of that. Since he was aware, if he said it in front of Drew, Drew would automatically bump up the price of the information and he would lose his advantage in this negotiation but Drew was one step ahead of him.

"If so, then you should realize the information costs at least 50o million Kalas. No... 700 million. Can you afford it." Drew knew that Uenkram was trying to scam him in broad daylight and Uenkram had just realized Drew had noticed that. 

Uenkram grit his teeth. 

So it seems he has begun to show his true colors. Drew smirked knowing that the turns have tabled (A/N: I mean the tables have turned)

It seems Drew was sharper than he had thought but judging from his strength, he was no better than a Low E-Rank Warrior, Uenkram hadn't lost yet. He still had one more card he could play. 

"Of course, I can. The question is: Can you?" He giggled maniacally pulling out a blue-chip from his blazer's inner pocket. 

He's finally resorted to it! So that was his conviction. 

Drew was elated that he was able to push this man this far but he had to stay composed. He couldn't let him see him 'sweat'.  

Uenkram, on the other hand, couldn't predict that the new broker could outplay him in wits so the only way he could win was to beat him in a physical fight. Being a High E-Rank Warrior, you could say Uenkram had the upper hand but the moment Uenkram had pulled out that blue-chip, his fate was set in stone. 

Adhering to Uenkram's demand, Drew lead him through the other door and down to the arena. There were no words spoken between the two in that duration. Arriving at the arena, a large cement pit dug many meters into the earth, Drew and Uenkram watched as another broker and a client were battling it out with the surrounding crowd of high rollers and other gamblers betting on who would win. Not sure what to do next, the mask instructed Drew to head into a waiting area down a flight of stairs. As instructed, Drew did so Uenkram following behind. A cocky expression had formed on his face as he eyed Drew. 

In the waiting room, which was essentially a massive cage with benches lining the sides, there was a weapon rack from which Drew chose a titanium shortsword, something that he was rather familiar with, while Uenkram selected a spiked mace. From the looks of it, the mace weighed 30 kilograms. Drew could even see Uenkram's muscles bulging from his dress shirt as he swung the mace over his shoulder like a sandbag. If Drew was hit by that, he would be mashed potatoes. The last match was almost finished, there's only a minute remaining before the final verdict for the transaction was revealed. 

"Very typical of you brokers to pick a shortsword," Uenkram commented swinging his mace around the cage nearly hitting Drew's head. Even though Drew was frightened to death on the inside, he managed to remain calm. His blue eyes a serene as a lake. Emotionless and unwavering. 

"What are you trying to get at?" Drew asked. 

"Nothing really," Uenkram chuckled arrogantly, "it's just, I know quite well how to deal with people like you." 

"We'll see about that," Drew said propping himself up with the shortsword. "Nothing is decided until it happens." 

"Just try to save yourself..." Uenkram spat. "I will end you in that ring as I have done to countless others." 

The cage opened, the steel bars exposing them to the radiant light emitted from the ceiling. It was finally Drew and Uenkram's turn. The cage closed behind them. The clock above displayed three minutes. Drew clenched his broadsword, his emotions still hidden behind the mask. Uenkram, on the other side, swinging his heavy mace around like a baseball bat, ready to rip Drew apart. A referee came to the center of the ring, wearing a mask in the shape of a Crow's head. 

"Broker and Client, please place your prices. The audience, place your bets!" The referee ordered as a holographic screen popped up on everyone's communication devices. 

Drew typed in 700 Million Kalas while Uenkram typed in 100 Million Kalas. At least he wasn't despicable enough to ask for the information for nothing. With the press of a button, the prices were sent up to the jumbotrons above. 

"700 and 100 Million! Lady's and gentlemen, we have some very high stakes today. Has everyone placed their bets?" 

The audience roared. 

"Okay~" The referee screamed in response. "Now, Broker. Client. Please stand at opposite ends of the ring." 

Obeying the referee, Drew and Uenkram turned their backs to each other, slowly making their way over to opposite ends of the concrete ring, their heels touching the cement walls. 

Noticing that they were both ready, the referee swung is arms out, pointing to the audience, announcing: "Now, the Broker and the Client will have three minutes to battle it out. Count down with me. 5!"  

"5!" 

"4!" 

"4!" 

Drew brandished his shortsword, bending his knees as he prepared for battle. Uenkram twirled his mace around, tossing it into the air allowing it to spin a couple of times before it landed back in his hands. 

"3!" 

"3!" 

Drew touched the cold ground with his fingertips, letting his Ice Otrio channel into each one. The sounds of the audience cheering beat like a drum against his ears. Uenkram gave Drew a toothy grin, letting his sharp canines gleam a brightly as his mace in the light.    

"2!" 

"2!"

A cold aura emitted from Drew's body sending chills down the people's spines above him. Uenkram let his mace drop to the ground, still holding onto its handle as the spikes created sparks on the ground the moment they made contact. 

"1!" 

"1!"

Drew switched his hand's position on the shortsword, holding it like a dagger instead of a proper shortsword. Uenkram scrapped his mace slowly against the ground, trying to intermediate Drew. The ear-piercing screech makes Drew jitter a little, making him nearly lose his grip on the shortsword.  

"0!" 

"0!"

The bell sound from the jumbotron speaker blared and the negotiation match had begun. The cheers from the audience practically doubled while the referee retreated into his own cage safeguard from the intense battle that was going to occur. 

Uenkram took the initiative. He wanted to get this match over with quickly. Charging at Drew with the heavy mace, Uenkram swung his mace back, gathering as much power as he could possibly muster in his right arm. To the audience, Uenkram was moving really fast for someone who uses a heavy weapon but in Drew's eyes, Uenkram was moving very slowly. It was as if he were watching a movie in slow-mo. The moment Uenkram's mace was centimeters from Drew's body, which hadn't moved a single centimeter, Uenkram believed that he had won. 

"This is the end!" He yelled already declaring his victory but in the blink of an eye. The broker that hadn't moved had suddenly disappeared. Uenkram had just hit the air. Without wasting a second, Uenkram swung his mace upwards where it solidly connected with the sharp titanium blade in Drew's hand, the Ice Otrio emitted from it had frozen a part of the mace. The crowd went wild. 

"How the heck did he do that?!" 

"Is that even possible?!"

Meanwhile, Drew had the largest grin of satisfaction hidden under his mask. Now that his Ice Otrio had stabilized, his physical capabilities have heightened to another level. One's Otrio stability was also connected to the state of their body. The stronger a person's Otrio stability was, the stronger their physical abilities were and vice versa but if a person's Otrio is unstable, they will go through periods of immense strength and immense weakness, and eventually, their body will be destroyed from the inside out. Drew Otrio was originally unstable since he had accumulated more Wind Otrio particles in his Core than Ice Otrio which created an imbalance. This imbalance was fixed when he learned the new meditation technique from the Manual. If he didn't find this out, god knows what would have happened to him by now. 

Regardless, Drew felt as though he had more control over his body than ever. Those maneuvers he originally couldn't pull off were now as easy as breathing air. Additionally, his senses have heightened even more than a few days ago. In this whole ring, he could see everything. The mace that had terrified him only moments ago seemed like a toy in his eyes. With Drew's, improved speed, the mace nor Uenkram served any threat to him any longer.  

Quickly removing his blade from the mace, Drew hooked his foot on to the mace, bent his back, and performed a Frankenstiner, flipping Uenkram into the air while landing perfectly on his feet. Uenkram almost lost grip on the mace but he was stunned. He thought he could easily defeat Drew due to the difference in their Otrio levels but he didn't expect Drew to be both faster and physically stronger than him. He didn't expect that his slim frame contained so much hidden power behind it. Unwilling to lose to Drew, Uenkram utilized to momentum from his flip to land back on to the ground. He had underestimated Drew. Now, he was unsure if he could win. 

It was Drew's turn. Even though he had just learned how to create a stable ice shard today, Drew decided to test its power. Channeling Otrio to his hand, Drew created an ice shard the size of his palm and charged at Uenkram. 

"Foolish Broker!" Uenkram spat laughing hysterically as he slammed his mace on the ground. "You think you can defeat me with Ice?" 

Suddenly, pillars of earth emerged from the ground. No, they were spears, four of them. No wonder why Uenkram was able to make other brokers succumb to him. That type of control and move was dangerous to get hit with. With the flick of his wrist, Uenkram directed the spears towards Drew who was charging at him at full speed. 

"Take that!" He screamed as the spears flew towards Drew. 

Drew, even though this was a risky decision, activated [Aegis] on the ice shard, instantly reshaping it till it became a solid disk. Then, Drew imputed Wind Otrio into the disk and chucked it at the four spears, curving the disk that it made direct contact with the body of the spears. What came next, no one expected at all. The ice disk cleaved through all four spears as if they were twigs. That's not all, it also pierced the side of the cement wall. Everyone knew that those spears were constructed from condense earth and each was a durable as tungsten and for a disk of ice to cleave through them easily and still have enough momentum to cut the cement wall, what was this madness. 

"No way..." Uenkram's voice cracked. He had lost his composure. "To easily destroy his earth spears like that, what kind of monster was he?" 

"One that you wouldn't have predicted facing," Drew responded as he aimed the shortsword at Uenkram's throat. Compared to the robots from the Entrance Exam, Uenkram was much easier to deal with.

Uenkram was desperate. With Drew only a meter from him, Uenkram erected an earth wall to delay Drew's movements. However, Drew wasn't surprised, the instance it was created, Drew had sidestepped around it using a bit of Wind Otrio. After practicing with Elias, who was also an Earth Otrio manipulator, Drew had been exposed lot of common Earth Otrio tricks and had gotten quite accustomed to creating countermeasures against them. This earth wall was placed at number one out of all those tricks! 

Now behind Uenkram who was vulnerable, Drew pointed his shortsword at his throat, the blade filled with chilling killing intent. If this were life or death, Uenkram would have been dead by now. He had seriously underestimated his opponent and had paid greatly for that. Dropping his mace, Uenkram put his hands up in the air. 

"I surrender." He sighed in a defeated tone. He had completely lost. Unfortunately, he couldn't pull any more underhand methods as there were hundreds of witnesses and rules he had to abide by. 

Silence. To think that Ling Uenkram who had swallowed many brokers from Crow's Eye into his circles had been defeated, it was hard to digest. 

"Okay~" The referee whistled. "Since Mr. Uenkram here has lost the match, he will be forced to pay 700 Million Kalas to Broker 3960." 

Suddenly the audience cheered but Drew paid no mind to them as Uenkram transferred 700 Million to Drew via the Crow's Eye application. From there 280 Million was transferred directly to his fake account Gerald had created in advance while the rest was transferred to one of the Crow Eye's various accounts.

"Next time," A man from the stands called. "I'm placing my bets on you!" 

"Same!" Another one called. 

"I made a huge loss..." Uenkram muttered. "I hate to admit it but you're exceptional. Are you sure you haven't done any dealing before this?" 

"No." Drew replied. "You were right when you assumed that I was a new dealer but the one lesson you got out of this was to not underestimate your opponents." 

"It seems so," Uenkram replied touching his own neck. "I think I'll stay away from you. I don't want my head flying off my head." 

"Good." Drew laughed. "You are rather troublesome to deal with. To think I'd have to get you for my first transaction." 

"Well, you're a monster. Keep up to good work. As a Weasel, I know very well who I should avoid. You are one of them. In the future, I'm rather interested in what you'll become Mr. Broker. Who knows, you may even become the best. It's a shame that I didn't get the information I wanted." 

"It's for the best. If you did, you would have the whole academy coming after you." 

"I figured. It seems I was being too impulsive. No wonder why the information is so expensive. Even though I didn't pay for anything and loss a lot from this, I don't feel one bit bitter about it."

"Why is that?" 

"I'm not sure," he replied lighting a cigarette, "it's weird. Now, as for you, I will give you a good rating." 

"Rating?" 

"You didn't know? Once a client has completed a transaction, they can give the broker a rating. Think of it as an extra tip for the Broker in order for them to attract more clients." 

"Thank you, then." 

"This is nothing. Think of it as my investment into you, you little monster. Besides, I want to see you grow." 

"That's rich coming from a new drug lord. You sound like an old man. How old are you even?" 

"I'm 25 this year. Going on 26." He chuckled. "How about you Mr. Broker." 

"I won't say. If I did, you'll feel humiliated." 

"I understand. I won't pry into it then." 

What a strange guy. Drew thought as Uenkram let the arena.