After the auction, Drew headed back to the Tavern where Gerald was patiently awaiting his arrival. Today had been a success for Drew but he did feel bad about trashing Heartman. Heartman used to be his idol but once he became his enemy, Drew had learned about all the vices and sins he had committed and learned that his most famous work, ‘Morning Dew’ was nothing but plagiarism. How could such a man be called an Alchemist? Drew thought at the time. Ever since he got a grasp on this information, Drew couldn’t believe it at first but after toying with Heartman at the auction, his suspicions had been confirmed. The man he once admired was both his enemy and the world's greatest conman. He didn’t deserve his titles nor his fame both of which he didn’t invest any work into them to obtain. He relied on the work of others, a plagiarist. It disgusted him down to the bone yet Drew felt like it was all a dream, just some really bad dream. To his dismay, everything that had occurred was real.  

Casting aside his previous thoughts, Drew had managed to kill two birds with one stone. One, he managed to threaten Heartman, and second, he managed to leave the impression on Heartman and Miranda that he, as Drew, was Snow's assistant. This second was the most critical. Drew knew Sylvia was being targeted by Miranda and since Miranda was at the auction, coincidentally gaining the support of Heartman, she would most likely ask for his backing during the War of Royals. Furthermore, it turns our Heartman shared the same thoughts as Miranda of Sylvia, therefore, giving Drew another reason to humiliate Heartman. Regardless, with a powerful backer, Miranda has the ability to approach Sylvia without caution, doing whatever she wants without anyone stopping her. Additionally, since Heartman was the second most powerful man on Kraus, behind the King himself, not even the authorities can control him. With this kind of power at her fingertips, Miranda was sure to manipulate the War of Royals in her favor but with Drew appearing with the 'backing' of Mr. Snow, he initial plan wouldn't work.

One also had to note that none of this wouldn't have happened if Heartman's reputation hadn't been completely ruined by Drew. 

Despite dealing quite a hard blow to Heartman's reputation, Heartman was not a person to be easily taken down by something like this but that wasn't the point. Since most of the people at the auction were the elites of society, they will most likely start shifting their allegiances. Before Mr. Snow came along, Heartman had gained the support of over half the elites in Ozwarth, most of them being smaller families in the elite circle, while the remaining were either part of an Independent faction, belonging to the current King, or factionless. Those that were part of the Independent faction were families in the top 20 percent of the elites with assets reaching into the hundreds of billions, but nowhere near Heartman's. Meanwhile, the families who were factionless were mainly families in the top 50 percent of the elites. They held enough influence to be self-sufficient against the families in Heartman's faction and those from the Independent faction but not enough to completely overpower these factions. In short, these families were neutral but they had the freedom to choose which faction they wanted to join.

Now that Mr. Snow had entered the picture, and was both factionless and against Heartman, most of these neutral families will have the courage to fully stand against these other two factions. In short, these families will attempt to ally themselves with Mr. Snow which is exactly what Drew needs. Furthermore, because people from all families witnessed Heartman's public shaming at the auction, some families from the other factions may be willing to switch sides. Once he's able to garner the support of these families, he'll be able to expand his influence in Ozwarth and eventually all of Kraus. Yes, he may not be as powerful as Heartman but he might just be able to stand on the same playing field as him but this kind of power was what he needed. 

Drew knew that once ten years were up, the Scorpion Horde will be after his tracks thus, he knew he needed to grow high enough to the point where the Scorpion Horde couldn't touch him nor the people he cared about. That was his resolve. Once he finished, he could finally end all these secrets and lies of his. He could stop deceiving and be what he always wanted, himself. 

Drew swung open the door of the Tavern, where Gerald had placed the box containing the Snowstone Core on top of the bar counter. Behind the counter, Gerald had prepared a mug of hot chocolate with a mountain of whipped cream and peppermint shavings on top. The sweet, mellow aroma from the cocoa relaxing Drew's senses as he placed his cheap suit jacket on one of the bar seats. Meanwhile, Gerald stod behind the bar counter polishing glasses with a clean cloth as Drew was getting comfortable in the seat. 

"Welcome back, Young Master." Gerald greeted placing the glass down. "How was the auction?" 

"Splendid," Drew replied, taking a sip of the warm cocoa. The sweetness of the chocolate coated Drew's tastebuds. It was not overly sweet nor was it bland, there was a perfect balance between the milk and the chocolate. It was a wonderful beverage. "Everything went according to plan. All we have to do now is wait." 

"As expected. You are very clever, Young Master." Gerald praised like a proper butler. 

Drew chuckled loosening his tie. 

"Not anywhere as clever as you, Gerald. I still have a long way to go." 

"Very humble of you but I think you are underestimating your capabilities." 

Drew laughed. "Don't flatter me like that or else it will inflate my ego. I don't want that to happen!" 

"Another wise statement from you, Young Master. You have never ceased to amaze me. It's like your a Pandora's Box." 

"Aw, please. I can't take praises too well." 

"Anyhow, Young Master, what do you plan to do with the Snowstone Core?" Gerald asked glancing down at the box. 

"I think I'll hold off using it for now. I want to spend some time stabilizing my Core first. That last regiment gave me a rather large increase of Otrio so my Core is still a bit unstable. I think I'll wait a couple of months. Plus, if I use it too soon, people will get a bit suspicious of my sudden increase so I think I'll use it when I'm ready to break through to Mid-E Rank." 

"An excellent choice." Gerald nodded taking the box. " Very well, I shall hold on to it in the meantime. What is your plan for the rest of the day? It's only four o'clock right now." 

"Well, first, I was wondering  what you had on the agenda for me for the next few weeks for training?" Drew asked as he took a large swig of his hot chocolate. 

"It's rather simple." Gerald began. 

As soon as he finished that phrase, Drew felt his wristband vibrating. Glancing down, Drew saw that it was an incoming call from Sylvia, the blue letters on his communication device scrolling past his eyes as he was about to press the blinking answer symbol on the screen. 

"Do you mind?" 

"Not at all," Gerald shook his head side to side. "Is she your girlfriend?" 

At that moment, Drew chocked on his hot chocolate, felling some of the milky substance run up his nasal cavity. That hurt a lot. 

"Cheeky old man!" Drew spat. "No, she's not my girlfriend. She's just one of my female friends." 

Gerald snickered. The man was acting no better than a teenager. 

"Oh ho! That's what the Former Master said before he married Mistress Night."  

"Stop it." Drew sighed with exasperation finally pressing the blinking green answer symbol. "You do also realize she's a Princess." 

"I'm well aware. The 39th correct-" 

"DREW LI, YOU FINALLY PICKED UP!" A loud voice over the speaker blared almost causing Drew to drop his hot chocolate. 

"Sorry, Princess." Drew apologized in a defeated tone. "I had to run some errands but what's up?" 

"It's a bit last minute, and I've already notified the others but are you free tonight at around six?"

"Yeah, I am but can you tell me at least what the occasion is?" 

"Yup." She replied in a cheery tone, popping the 'p'. "I was finally able to register our small organization as an official business. I received confirmation just this morning so I wanted to celebrate it with you guys. You all played a huge part in getting this project/business off that ground and I want to thank you for it." 

"Congratulations. Let me guess, you're treating us to dinner." 

Sylvia laughed. 

"It was that obvious..."

"I mean what else would you do to celebrate such a huge occasion?" 

"True. Well enough of the ideal chatter. This time we're doing Sierran BBQ at Oceans." 

"No freaking way!" Drew exclaimed nearly falling out of his seat. "You mean that all you can eat Seafood Buffet that costs nearly a hundred Kalas per person?" 

Despite Drew possessing billions in assets, it was a bit ironic that he was acting this way. 

"Hey, don't think about the money Drew. We've got a lot after selling that batch of soap bars. As I said, it's my treat." 

"Okay, can you send the address?" Drew asked, tapping his finger on the bar countertop. 

"Sure. It should be in your messages right about now!" 

A small notification appeared on Drew's communication device. The flashing envelops signaling that he had just received a message from Sylvia. 

"Got it. Although, I highly doubt I'll need it. I'll see you soon." 

"See you! You better not be late." 

"Now that you mention it, I might just do that." Drew joked taking a swig of his hot chocolate.

Sylvia laughed. "Please don't. I'll see you soon." 

"See you." Drew smiled, ending the call.

As soon as he did, Drew glance over to Gerald who had a mischievous grin on his face. 

"I'll take my leave," Drew announced as went to collect his things. 

"Have fun on your date, Young Master." Gerald hollered from behind. 

"It's not a date if there are four other people coming and she is not my girlfriend, cheeky old man!" 

>>>

It took Drew half an hour to change out of that suffocating suit. The auction today had mentally drained him even though all he did was sit around and do nothing half the time. However, despite all of that, Drew finally felt like he was back in his own skin. Currently, he was juggling between three different identities: Drew Li, a student at Star Military Academy; Axel Snow, a cold and aloof Alchemist; and Brandon Ashford, Dealer 3690 at the Borealis, with each one being distinctly different from one another. This made Drew question whether any of them, even the identity as himself, was his true self. Everyone he knew only knew a fragment of him, each fragment a different size from the other but each of these fragments felt like they belonged to different pictures. Not a singular one. Nevertheless, he couldn't tell anyone what he has been doing since that could mean either his death or their death for which he could not afford as he was now. 

He was too weak. He couldn't protect anyone not even himself from that tragedy seven months ago but things were different. He had the ability, the chance, to gain the power to protect everyone he cared about. It may not be as 'Drew' but as long as he could prevent another life from being lost even if it means getting blood on his hands, that was the greatest accomplishment he could ever have. For now, he had to focus on protecting himself. 

During these early stages, Drew couldn't afford to make any mistakes, especially as Snow. He had to create a strong foundation without any flaws. Once he accomplished that, he could progress onto the next step. The first step of his plan had succeeded. He had aggravated Heartman in order to test his mentality and it seems it was more fragile than Drew anticipated which will make it easier to take him down in the future. Of course, that didn't mean it was easy it would take time and patience. It was something that would take years to accomplish but Drew had all the time in the world he needs to pull it off. Now, it was time to calculate his next steps, and the best way to do that was to gain more knowledge. After all, knowledge was power but today wasn't the day to start thinking about that. Today was a day to celebrate and relax after the event that had just occurred. It was time to be 'himself'. 

>>>

As Drew exited the Tavern, he made his way to Yerburn station, which took twenty minutes since the evening traffic had just begun. From there, he waited ten minutes for the train to arrive because the last couple was jammed packed with people traveling around the city and headed straight for the Civic Center which took another twenty minutes. It was now five twenty when Drew arrived at the Civic Center, the suns in the sky had begun to set as Drew wandered through the Civic Center. The restaurant was only a five-minute walk from the station so Drew decided he would kill some time by staying nearby. The snow had begun falling from the sky, small freckles of white spotting Drew's hair as they made contact but not melting as they did before. Instead, the cool winter breeze blew them away. After Drew awoke his Snowhawk bloodline, he had built a very slight resistance to the cold. Since he had just awoken it recently, he wasn't completely immune to it but as he gets stronger, his immunity would also grow stronger. Eventually, he could just go around wearing a T-shirt and shorts in negative forty degrees and say it's warm but that would be a bit weird if he were in his Nightengale form. 

It was crowded in the Civic Center but it wasn't unexpected since it was approaching Saturday evening. The Jumbotrons platered on the faces of the towering sykscrappers portrayed the news, the stock market, ads for various products, and more. On the central billboard, right on the face of Stock Exchange building, a video of the latest news was playing with a caption underneath which said 'BREAKING NEWS: HEARTMAN HUMILIATED BY THE MYSTERIOUS ALCHEMIST AXEL SNOW AND HIS ASSISTANT'. It was footage from today's auction just a few hours earlier.

That was faster than I anticipated. Drew smiled watching the Jumbotron play the footage of the auction on loop, zooming in on both 'Mr. Snow's' and 'Drew's' faces while doing so. Someone from the inside must've sent the footage to the media well, not that it matters but these next few months will be hectic for me. 

Some bystanders around Drew began discussing with each other. 

"Serves him right." On bystander yelled. "That bastard may be a genius but he's too conceited."

"This made my day." Another bystander said. "I've waited four years for his arrogant smile to be wipped across the floor. I'm so glad he finally had a taste of his own medicine." 

"Oh, his stocks are seriously going to plummet when the market opens on Monday. I should probably get ready to invest in Snow once or if he goes IPO (Initial Public Offering). A lot of people are going to try to sell once it opens. Luckily, I don't own too many of the Heartman Foundations's stocks." A man muttered to himself.

I should probably tell Uncle anf Auntie Ryhard to sell. They own a couple shares (a portion of a company's equity (or ownership) when people invest in stocks they are buying a portion of the company's ownership but not much if it's just one share. As stock rises, the value of those shares/ownership increases and once high enough, people tend to sell them on hold on to them depending whether they think the stock price will keep increasing or the market will crash. A/N: Business major here.) of the Heartman Foundation's stock.

Lost in his own world, Drew began considering which companies he should invest in and how he should progress as Snow in the future but soon, he cast away those thoughts. Today was a Saturday, he should relax a bit. Drew decided to make a few rounds around the Civic Center, wandering into some tech stores just to kill time. Before he knew it, half an hour had passed and it was time to meet up with the others at the Ocean restaurant. Luckily, he was only a block away from it after all his walking around so it only took him a minute to get there. Once he arrived, he found Sylvia standing right outside the entrance no one else had arrived yet. Her crimson hair glowing as bright as a flame, then again she was of Ifrit descent so it made sense, with her hands shoved in the pockets of her hip length down jacket. Her crimson eyes staring out into the distance as she watched the icicle above her melt. 

"Sylvia!" Drew called to her. 

Snapping out of her daze, Sylvia turned her head in the direction she heard her name. A smile curled onto her face. 

"Hey, Drew. You're the first one here." 

"Thank god!" Drew let out a sigh of relief. "I thought I was running late or something." 

"Nah, you're good. To be honest, I expected you to come last." 

"I was nearby so it didn't take too long to get here." 

"We have seven more minutes before they'll call us in. Everyone else is almost here." 

"I think I found the rest of them," Drew said turning his head in a full one-eighty. Wan and Brix coming from one direction with loads of shopping bags in their arms. Rider crossing the street, getting run over by an onslaught of people in the process, and Elias running from the opposite direction. 

"And, here they come." Sylvia grinned. 

"You all made it!" Sylvia greeted with a silly grin on her face. 

"You're lucky that we were all in the area," Wan said placing some of her bags on the icy ground. 

"Liar!" Brix interjected. "We were on the other side of Ozwarth-"

Wan covered Brix's mouth with her hand quickly before she could say anything else. 

"Shhh!"

"What's with all the shopping bags?" Elias asked as he arrived. 

Wan removed her hand from Brix's mouth before turning around and answering, "Brix is part of the Design Club at Star so they asked her to run some errands. She needed some help so I decided to tag along but we kind of underestimated how many things we needed to get. Luckily we managed to get everything done." 

"That's right, it's that time of the year again." Rider said, joining the group. 

Visible confusion was written over Sylvia's face. 

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"At the beginning of every semester, the Design Club would host a fashion show which would attract all different people from around Ozwarth. The fashion show's purpose is for prominent designers to scout out assistants for their studios, for the elite to shop for custom made outfits, or for clothing companies to search for promising models. The fashion show is a one-night event and tickets are nearly impossible to get." Wan explained picking up the bags she placed on the ground briefly. "I guess you didn't know since you're still new to Ozwarth." 

"No, I didn't. I'm kind of ignorant of these things as I'm from a small town." 

"Anyhow, now ya know." Brix waved her hand. "So why have you gathered us here so last minute." 

"Well, I wanted to celebrate the formal establishment of the Burnstone Welfare Organization!" 

"Woah! Congrats Sylvia!" Elias and Wan congratulated clapping their hands. 

"Congrats Princess!" Brix smiled. 

"They processed all the forms that quickly, Princess?!" Ryder exclaimed. 

"Yup. It's all thanks to you guys that I was able to get this far. As such, I'm treating everyone to Ocean's Seafood Buffet! From now on, everyone here is part of the Executive Board of the Burnstone Welfare Organization, I hope to continue working with everyone in the future." 

Drew grinned giving Sylvia a thumbs up.

"If you put it that way, of course, we'll continue to help you. After all, you are both a Princess and our friend. We're looking forward to working with you." 

"Friend..."

"What did you say?" Drew asked leaning over, his head tilted to one side, allowing for his bangs to sway slightly under his hat. His green eyes starring into Sylvia's. A gentle expression had formed on his face, making Sylvia's body warm-up. No one had ever called her a 'friend' or even treated her like one. These people weren't fake, superficial, like the ones from the War of Royals. These people were genuine, not hiding behind some facade of perfection or acting like their relationship was shallow or nonexistent. They truly cared for her and the one who pulled her into that group, that group of genuine people, was the green-haired Nightengale in front of her. Little did she know, or anyone knows, that Nightengale was far more complicated than one could ever imagine. 

"It's nothing," Sylvia smiled, "Let's head inside before all the food is gone."