After parting with Uenkram, Drew made his way over to the various display cases, each hosting a precious item ranging from gems, regiments, weapons, even priceless pieces of art. Observing them one by one, Drew found his regiment in the display case right next to the double doors to the main auction hall. The listing price was 500,000,000 Kalas, as expected, as the blue regiment danced around in the glass vile.

As he continued observing the regiment, the entrance to the auction house opened, revealing a man everyone knew. Zachary Heartman. His appearance causing chaos to erupt at the auction house. Paparazzi and reporters from outside broke past the guard line, flocking Heartman as his guards tried to push them away. They sure were persistent but who wouldn't want the scoop on the most famous Alchemist in the Alchemy Circles? This was a rare chance for the press to see Heartman up close. Of course, Heartman ignored them. They weren't worth his time and neither were most of the people in the auction house. He was there for one purpose, his eyes shifting over to the blue-haired youngster standing by the display case where the 'First Snow' resided. His eyes narrowed, focusing intently on him, then shifting over to the glowing blue regiment in the display case. The sparkling aqua vile made Heartman's perfect image ruined. It was quite evident that he was pissed.  

Drew felt a chill run down his spine. He knew Heartman had come for him and his regiment. He wanted to know how 'Mr. Snow' manage to topple his top-ranking overnight and he was here for that purpose. He wanted to know, how this no named youth from nowhere embarrassed him. Each step Heartman took was louder than the rest, the facial muscles on his face were trying to remain calm but could lash out at any moment if one didn't act carefully. People admired him yet feared him, that's what made Heartman so great. 

Heartman was standing face-to-face with Drew, Heartman's towering figure looming over Drew's, casing an elongated shadow to be cast. Everyone averted their attention to the both of them. Drew froze. He was a huge admirer of Heartman but as 'Mr.Snow; he couldn't say it because the current Heartman saw him as an enemy, a nuisance. He couldn't afford to make any mistakes, not here not now.

"You must be Axel Snow," Heartman said in a scary tone, "the creator of the 'First Snow', something worthy of my attention." 

"I'm glad to receive your praise Mr. Heartman," Drew replied, keeping to his formalities.

"You are much different in person than what I expected." Heartman continued. 

Drew lowered his voice. 

"And what do you mean by that?" 

Heartman chuckled before leaning down to Drew's eye level, his sharp canines could be seen behind that perfect facade of his. 

"You are still naive." Heartman hissed. "You have only stepped into this dangerous world and know nothing of its horrors. You have no idea what's coming for you. I can provide you what you need." 

Drew glared at him. He knew what he was up to. 

So he's trying to swallow me before I become a real threat to him. If he manages to succeed, that means he also gets my regiment's formula. I can't allow that the happen. 

Drew snorted. "I'll humbly NOT accept your offer."

Of course, Heartman was prepared for this. 

"Being a new alchemist in the circle, you need access to resources and information. It's hard to obtain those when you've just joined. As your Senior, I can provide those for you." 

If this were anyone else, the would've been tempted to accept immediately without further question Drew would've too if this were a couple of weeks ago but things were different.

Drew did not know when he became so bold but he knew he would have to play his cards to the max of its abilities to manage against Heartman. Drew leaned closed to Heartman's face, letting his blue eyes pierce Heartman's like a hawk staring at its prey. Heartman retained his composure but Drew could tell he had flinched.    

"Do you think I'm that foolish? I know you want to retain your position as the number one alchemist in the Alchemy Circle and I know you need my regiment to accomplish that. You may seem humble to most of the public but I have to say, you are a terrible actor." 

Heartman retreated a step back. It was small yet quite noticeable to the onlookers at the venue. They didn't know what Drew had said to Heartman but from the looks of it, it seems Drew had delt a considerably large blow to Heartman to make him retreat. Drew decided to press on. Of course, this move was a gamble for him. 

"You said I'm too naive and that I'm foolish," Drew resumed tapping his communication device with his index finger as he closed in on Heartman, who's tall figure had slouched down to Drew's eye level. "But aren't you the foolish one here, Heartman? You've had everything done for you. Your company was something obtained from an inheritance. Your money was something your parents bestowed on you. Your talent was something only noticed because your younger brother never had a chance to rise. You took his chance."

"You.." Heartman scowled. He couldn't retort back to all those statements. 

Drew's gamble had paid off. When Drew received the guestlist for the auction, he immediately saw Heartman's name and scrambled to do his research, knowing that Heartman was going to be at the auction for his regiment. As such, Drew knew Heartman like the back of his hand. Of course, there were some things that Drew was uncertain of. One of those things was the conspiracy about Heartman and his younger brother that had occurred four years ago.   

>>>

Heartman had two siblings, a younger brother and an older sister both of which who were highly accomplished at the time. As Heartman was rising in the War of Royals, he needed something to pull him to the top of the leader board. Heartman's prodigal yet talented younger brother, Sai Heartman, had created a regiment that was never submitted to the Ozwarth Medical Facility but it was rumored that the regiment had the same effects as the 'Morning Dew', it could increase someone's Otrio talent by one. However, as the regiment was being delivered to the facility, the car in which it was being delivered flew off the edge of a cliff near the Heartman manor. That car contained both the regiment and Sai which were assumed to have perished in the accident but during the investigation, neither the regiment nor Sai was able to be found. Thus many assumed he had perished. The only thing that was definite was that someone had tampered with the breaks thus making the whole case seem extremely suspicious.

And they weren't wrong about that. 

Some say Sai might've jumped out of the car before it went over the cliff but footage shows that wasn't the case. Others believe that Sai was never in the car, to begin with, but evidence shows that he was in the car during the time of the accident. But these people were stupid. at the time that is. Drew played the detective game a little and managed to uncover some info. Through this game, he had found that Heartman was indeed found guilty of tampering with the breaks in that incident, and he got away with it, but he couldn't piece together how he had gotten his hand onto Sai's regiment since the regiment had disappeared along with Sai once it fell off the cliff. It would've been impossible for any person or drone to recover it due to the location of the fall and Heartman had no access to the real recipe of the regiment till after it was submitted so how did he find out? Regardless, Drew couldn't resurface this case but he knew that day would haunt Heartman forever so there was one thing Drew could do, blackmail, and it seems it had worked. 

 >>>

"How do you know about that?" Heartman hissed. 

Drew clicked his teeth together.

"You know, you can't possibly suppress everything. When there's a will there's a way. I have that way and I may just use that way for much more." 

Heartman tried to force some words out of his mouth but he couldn't seem to find any. Drew had hit the nail right on the head. Heartman tried to come up with a retort but he had nothing on Drew. Not even a birthday nor a middle name. Luckily, no one from the media had managed to get in, or else it would've been the end for him. He was too careless. 

What could he do? 

If he didn't reply back to Drew, everyone would perceive him as weak and take advantage of his weakness. He couldn't allow that to happen. Lost in his thoughts, Heartman felt an arm wrap around his own. Looking down, he found a girl with long black hair leaning her seductive head against his shoulder blade. Her well-developed breast, fully revealed by her black chiffon dress, encasing Heartman's elbow. She looked around seventeen or eighteen years of age, not quite a child nor a woman but if Heartman were younger, he would've fallen heads of heels for her. On the girl's face, was a mischievous smile. Her plump cherry lips and long eyelashes pointing straight at Drew. 

Drew furrowed his eyebrowed. He knew who this girl was very well.

"My apologies," The girl began. "It seems that Mr. Heartman here isn't feeling too well. I hope you don't mind me intervening in your conversation." 

"Not at all," Drew responded turning his back to Heartman. Heartman had just admitted defeat in front of these people so there was no point in continuing to talk with him. "We had just finished discussing some rather important matters." 

"Is that so," The black-haired girl smiled pressing her index finger on her lips, trying to look as innocent as possible.

Heartman pursed his lips together. There wasn't much he could do except follow along with this girl's actions if he wanted to save himself as much as possible.

"Yes, that's correct." He sighed in defeat. The anger behind his face was quite evident. The veins on his forehead protruding out to the point where they could explode at any moment. He had suffered a humiliating defeat.

"Very well, enjoy the auction," Drew smirked waving his hand at Heartman. "Don't forget. I have my ways." 

"Tch." Heartman grit silently. Flames were dancing in her eyes.  "Just you wait Snow. I. WILL. HAVE. THE. LAST. LAUGH." 

"I wish you good luck. I'll see you on the battlefield." 

With that, both parties went their separate ways, preparing for the battle that was going to occur in the grand stage. 

"Aren't you going to say thank you?" The black-haired girl asked matching Heartman's steps as he made his way over to the corner of the hall. 

Heartman didn't respond. If he did, that means he would be in the debt of this girl, no, Witch. However, it was too late. The moment the Witch wrapped her arms around his, he had been placed in her debt. The only thing he could do was repay it. 

"What do you want?" 

The girl chuckled. "I will tell you later. For now, you focus on obtaining that regiment. I am will to contribute to your endeavors."

"So you must want something that's worth that much in return. What a scheming girl you are. What is your name?"  

Know that Heartman was wrapped around her fingers, she could finally proceed with the next phase. To end that disgusting 'exception' once and for all. 

"Miranda. Miranda Dutchfang at your service Mr. Heartman. It's my pleasure to be cooperating with you." 

Little did the two know, someone was eavesdropping on their conversation. 

"Young Master," Gerald interrupted Drew who was scanning some of the other items in the display cases. "It seems Heartman is proceeding as predicted even with that wild card tossed into the mix. What should we do?" 

Drew chuckled. 

"So he wants to play that game. Fine. Let's play the game."