After the conversation with Rider, everything resumed as normal. Although, Rider felt bitter about Drew's answer Drew knew it was the only one he could give to him for now. He was angry that he was too powerless to share but he knew that he would be risking his own life and jeopardizing his friends as well. With his current abilities, he could not afford that. One day, when he has attained the status and power, he could finally come clean. He didn’t know how long it would take but it would at least be a few years. 

It was Monday afternoon and the first day of February. Drew was standing inside a large underground warehouse in an unknown part of Ozwarth. Last night, a snowstorm had been reported on the forecast causing all classes to be canceled the next day. With this extended day of free time before the second month of the Winter Semester, most students decided to hang out with each other in their dorms. As for Drew, he had other plans for the day. Knowing this was coming, Drew departed a couple of hours early for Yerburn from which he took a secret passage through the Crow's Eye. Of course, he didn't forget to change into his 'Axel Snow' identity with a special outfit chest Gerald had prepared for Drew the night before.

Inside, it contained an outfit displayed at the Ozwarth Fashion Show. It was one of the suits tailored by Kingsman. A black, bulletproof suit hemmed with a silver lining with snowflakes embedded into it. There were two pockets inside the jacket, each one containing a custom-made throwing knife for self-defense made of adamantine, a rare metal that's even stronger than titanium. Just looking at it, Drew could not imagine the cost of it.

Wearing an expensive suit temporarily already made him feel terrible but owning it put Drew on the verge of having an aneurysm. However, he knew he couldn't complain about it as he had to maintain his dignified image. Drew couldn't help but sigh. 

For the sake of reputation. 

After changing into the suit and changing his appearance, Drew walked over to the corner of Neilson's office, lightly pushing one of the walls. Suddenly, the wall swayed open revealing a dark passageway. According to Gerald, this specific passage should lead to the warehouse Neilson was using. Walking down the staircase, Drew couldn't help but marvel that so many secrets existed in Ozwarth. Just like this one, Drew had no idea such a passage exists underneath the city. Apparently, it was a part of Old Ozwarth and served as one of the many escape pathways but most of them were demolished when the current Ozwarth was built on top of it. This passage was originally blocked by the government since they no longer needed the old city's facilities but the Crow's Eye cleared it up along with many of the other passages that pass through Yerburn. 

However, the Crow's Eye added another little feature to it. 

After entering the passageway, Drew found a platform with places outlined for his feet. Steeping on the platform, Drew felt his feet lock into place as if a strong magnet was keeping him down. With Drew secured tightly to the platform, the platform began to move slowly before speeding up. It was similar to a hoverboard except Drew couldn't control it. He had heard that these platforms were used in the past to facilitate faster individual transportation within a city but they were extremely inefficient for the fact accidents and malfunctions always occurred. Drew couldn't believe that the Crow's Eye had built such a system underneath the main city the technology was a few decades old! 

As the platform speed down the passage, Drew was receiving an onslaught of messages from Gerald and Senior Neilson. They have arrived at the warehouse last night and had finished conducting the first set of tests. They started by running tests to recreate Heartman's regiment. After seventy trials, they succeeded in producing the regiment with constant 18% effectiveness which was considered pretty good but nowhere near what they needed. It seems like Heartman must have omitted some information in the formula to bring the effectiveness up to 20% so that would be Drew's first goal. 

Smart move. Drew smirked. 

For many Alchemists, revealing their formulas was the same as making them vulnerable to other competitors. However, no one said the formula had to be complete and one had the right to omit some information which is what Heartman did but he made it seem as though his formula was complete. A very common, devious move, indeed. Though, it makes sense as to why he would do that.

>>>

The Alchemy market was very competitive and most Alchemists would not want to share their recipes. This created a monopoly within the market thus most Alchemists were basically entitled to a specific regiment. For Drew, he had a monopoly on the F-Rank Breakthrough Regiment and it was not like anyone was going to figure out that he added in Calemond Wood anytime soon so he had no problems revealing a convincing altered recipe. 

>>>

After realizing the recipe was altered, Drew forwarded a message. 

Try conducting trials with heat next. Start with a one-degree deviation from the temperature instructed. From there, increase it to two and so on. Beyond a five-degree deviation, the effects of the Galigar Lotus will become obsolete so be careful. I'll be at the location soon. 

Beep. Beep. 

Drew received an immediate response. 

Understood. 

>>>

Moments later, the speeding platform stopped. The shock generated from the platform locking into place caused Drew to slightly lose his balance. 

"I guess this is it, huh," Drew muttered to himself as the lock released, allowing him to step off the platform easily. 

Walking over to the concrete wall in front of him, Drew tapped on it. Immediately, the wall pushed inwards then moved off the side revealing an ascending staircase. Standing in front of the staircase was Gerald looking sharp in his immaculate butler attire. There wasn't even be a single wrinkle found in it. 

"Welcome, Young Master. We have been anxiously awaiting your arrival." 

“Thank you, Gerald." Drew nodded handing Gerald his jacket. "As we are short on time, brief me on today’s schedule as well as everyone who is participating.” 

“My pleasure," Gerald replied, folding Drew's jacket over his arm. "We have begun conducting trials on heat with the Galigar Lotus. Currently, we have thirty Alchemists separated into three groups of ten working fifteen-hour shifts. Each one has been verified by both Neilson and myself with the average rank being around C-Rank. Master Uenkram has supplied us with some materials and another one is supposed to arrive later today." 

Pleased with Gerald and Senior Neilson's efficiency, Drew couldn't help but smile. 

"Just as planned. I will also help out with the trials whenever I'm available. When I'm not, please send me the results from the trials. I will then forward you and Senior Neilson the next steps. I'm entrusting you to act as my proxy. We'll be heading into uncharted waters very soon." 

As soon as he finished speaking, the duo reached the top of the staircase.

"Understood, Young Master." Gerald bowed gracefully, opening the door for Drew where he was met with a grand scene. 

For the first time in his life, Drew was standing inside an enormous laboratory. Though it was temporary, it was still astonishing how much Senior Neilson was able to arrange in such a short amount of time. Long tables lined with various apparatuses ranging from crucibles, flasks, scales, gas stoves, and thermometers to the shelves of chemicals and herbs stored in cabinets and embedded subzero fridges as well as the various Alchemists conducting multiple experiments at once. All of that amazed Drew who was still a fledgling in the medical world. Though he couldn't display it on his face since he was playing the part of 'Mr. Snow'.

"Greetings, Mr. Snow." Senior Neilson warmly welcomed, gesturing Drew to follow him. 

"Thank you, Mr. Neilson." Drew greeted back, playing along with the formalities. "Gerald has already informed me of the current operations. When will the current trials be completed?" 

"At our current pace, I predict around noon. However, I can arrange the next batch of materials for the consequent set of trials. Furthermore, we are in the process of hiring some more freelance Alchemists for the job." 

"Perfect."

So far, everything was progressing smoothly but it was too early to determine anything. Currently, the focus was to achieve 20% effectiveness which only Heartman has attained. The set of experiments Drew has instructed to be conducted was pretty standard. Without testing all the current possibilities with Heartman's recipe, Drew could not be confident in making any major alterations to it. He assumed this process would take at least two weeks with the current resources provided but Senior Neilson had said he was in the process of hiring some more Alchemists. If they could join immediately, Drew assumed that everything could be completed by mid-next week but this was on an assumption. 

"Once trials with heat are completed, please conduct trials with the cooling process and from there, change the proportions of the ingredients beginning with the Galigar Lotus. I already have outlined those experiments, make any adjustments necessary. " 

"As you command, Mr. Snow." 

>>>

The day passed in a flash. To Drew's surprise, no one questioned his qualifications. It was probably due to the time crunch with the project so no one really had a chance to socialize. On top of that, they have all seen 'Mr. Snow' in the news when he revealed his F-Rank Breakthrough regiment so there was no need for them to ask. Plus, as Mr. Snow, Drew kind of seemed unapproachable. Cold would be the better word for that. 

"Hey, isn't that Axel Snow?" One of the Alchemists asked pointing over to Drew who was reading the report from the experiments. So far, all the trials conducted so far have brought the regiment's success rate to 19.3% but not the necessary 20%. It was progress but it wasn't satisfactory. The dissatisfaction was written all over his face. Ice Otrio unconsciously began seeping out of his body causing the room to drop twenty degrees in an instant. 

"Achoo, why is it so cold, Terra?" Another Alchemist said rubbing his nose. 

"Snowhawk." The female Alchemist named Terra shrugged as she continued jotting down experiment results. "At least he saves us time from putting the regiments in the fridge." 

The Alchemist who sneezed glanced over at her. 

"He looks pissed, though." 

"Nah, Alven," The female Alchemist scoffed. "Boss Neilson said he just has a resting bitch face. So no one can tell what he's thinking. My guess is that he's just focusing on the experiment results. He'll probably be satisfied." 

The other Alchemist looked at her with doubt. 

"I don't think that's the case." 

Obviously, Drew was too absorbed in the report that he couldn't hear the conversation between the two Alchemists. The only way he would be able to bring the regiment up to 20% was to keep making minor adjustments. He was exhausted from reviewing reports, making regiments, and drafting more experiments. On top of that, he had class the next day so it was about time for him to head back to the dorms. It was getting late anyway. Rubbing his temples, Drew picked up his coat and left the lab. As he did, he made sure to leave a message with Gerald and Senior Neilson for the next set of experiments to be conducted in his absence. 

Changing back to his Nightengale form, Drew tried racking his brain together, attempting to finding the missing piece to the puzzle.

He just couldn’t figure it out.

 How did Heartman get to 20%? 

What are we missing? Drew pondered to himself over and over again as he went to the convenience store before taking the AirTrain back to the dorms. A can of hot tea in his hand as well as a bag of snacks right next to him. The snowstorm has stopped a while ago and there was a fresh layer of powder over some of the skyscrapers in the city. The snow decorating the cloudy sky like stars. It sure was beautiful.

The train stopped. It was five stops till the Academy. It was close to midnight. Only about an hour till the dorms close. The doors open to the train. Drew was siping his hot tea like nothing happened until he witnessed something unusual. A tall, orange hair guy around Drew's age stepped onto the train. His face, all bruised and bloodied couldn't be concealed by his hood nor the bandages covering them. There were scratches over his hand and his clothes were caked in dirt. 

"Elias?" 

DDTStudios

Hi, it's me DDTStudios. IM BACK AND ALIVE! I'm a piece of shit for not updating frequently enough. Real-life has hit me like a brick these past few months and I've been too busy to write anything. I've been trying to read some more actual, tangible books to improve my grammar and diction since I've been finding it quite lacking and that's why I had a difficult time crafting these last few chapters. Anyhow, we're going down the deep, dark spiral of mysteries and secrets of all the other characters. Stay tuned for the next chapter.