While Drew was cranking his brain at full power to create the second part of the Blood Otrio Regiment, now regiments, another important event was taking place at the Heartman Foundation building. 

After battling for so long, Heartman finally acquired several vials of Snow’s “First Snow”. When Heartman lost to Drew in the auction house, everyone that used to fear him no longer did. Rather, the people who once feared him grew bold. They made risky bids, inflating the price of the regiment to the billion knowing that Heartman would do anything just to obtain them. They knew that Heartman was desperate to maintain his position as the number one Alchemist in the Alchemy Circle which was being threatened by Snow’s ground-breaking regiment hence they considered shaking him up a bit more. 

Akin to an army fighting a dragon, these weak foes would whittle down Heartman’s health than allow Drew, Snow, to take the final blow. 

These people wanted to see the end of Heartman’s story. Of course, Heartman couldn’t accept this. He was fed up with being second. He was infuriated that someone was always above him. First his younger brother now Snow. Why can’t he stand on top? Why? After all he’s done. After all the hard work he’s invested in, why?! 

Hah. Heartman sighed. I guess this entire damned universe is against me succeeding. Well, screw them. Snow and my brother may be above but in the end, I’ll be the one who writes the ending to this story. 

Suddenly, a knock came on his door. 

A plain-looking Alchemist entered the room. Like many others before him, he was trembling with fear. One could even see his glasses fogging up and his breath visible in the room despite it being an entire thirty degrees warmer than it was outside. 

“Report,” Heartman demanded to the Alchemist standing under the doorway. 

“Sir, we have conducted all possible tests on First Snow.” 

“And-“ 

“Well-“ The Alchemist continued chittering his teeth together in fear. “We have found that the composition is similar to that of other F-Rank Breakthrough regiments on the market yet we are still uncertain as to what modifications were made. We’ve tried every Otrio herb and stabilizer that exists-“ 

Crash. 

A porcelain vase situated adjacent to Heartman shattered. Heartman didn’t move but the Alchemist was aware that Heartman’s aura alone could make the air shake.  

“Try again and don’t miss a single thing.” 

The Alchemist understood Heartman’s intentions. He would not stop until he figured out how exactly Snow made this mystical regiment. If he didn’t, it would become a huge stain on Heartman’s record which would also mean that his ranking in the Alchemy Circle could go down. Even though the Alchemist didn’t care a bit about Heartman’s ranking, if he disobeyed, there would be immense consequences. 

The Alchemist wondered why exactly did he want to work for such a terrible, short-tempered man. 

“Yes, sir.” The Alchemist replied obediently before swiftly taking his leave.

As he did, Heartman was now left in silence. The Obelisk, now nearly complete, its triangular peak touching the clouds in the sky, reminded Heartman of his lifelong inferiority. Bitterness passed over his mind as he touched the cold tempered glass window of his office. 

Snow, you are just another obstacle in my path. I will eliminate you as I did to Sai. You will never take what is mine. 

>>> 

In the Southern Wall District of Ozwarth, a young man with brown hair and fiery red eyes that resembled Heartman’s glanced up at a holographic image depicting a gaudy advertisement for the Heartman Foundation. 

The red-eyed young man knitted his brows together, his gaze piercing the same fiery red eyes Heartman possessed in his advertisement. He couldn’t bear to look at them any longer. Those disgusting eyes that despised him since his youth. 

“Four years, it’s been four years.” 

With the end of his statement, the young man turned around and left the vicinity without a trace to be seen. 

>>>

At the same time, Jay was sitting in the Medbay of Star Military Academy’s Hospital. His mother laying limply in her bed encased by a glass cover similar to Snow White. His pointed Feline ears twitched rapidly with anxiety as he watched her heart rate fluctuate. Each day the beating grows weaker and weaker. There wasn’t much time left. 

“Mr. Crossford.” 

A nurse who was watching over his mother called out. 

“Yes,” Jay replied expectantly. 

The nurse’s expression looked grim. Jay had already expected this. 

“The Blood Poisoning in your mother’s system has penetrated her heart. She only has a couple months remaining.” 

It’s a good thing the Young Master and I predicted this in advance. Hearing it from the nurse’s mouth doesn’t surprise me. 

“I understand,” Jay replied bitterly. Nevertheless, Jay couldn’t help but be anxious. His mother was right at death’s door. The Blood Otrio Poison serving as her reaper. Yet, he still clung to the sliver of hope. The hope the Young Master gave him that his mother could be saved. 

“I’ll take my leave.” The nurse said knowing that it was best to give Jay some space. What a pitiful guy. She thought to herself as she left the room. 

“Call me if you need anything.”

“I will.”

>>>

It was now three o’clock.,

In the lab, Drew and the Alchemists were working more furiously than ever. They were almost done reverse-engineering the channel recovery regiment. Unfortunately, most of the recipes for these regiments were unavailable to the public but luckily, a few Alchemists have created some of these regiments in the past thus the process went by rather quickly.  It was also at this point where Drew realized that he never actually conducted an experiment himself as it was always left to the other Alchemists in the vicinity. He was so used to crafting experiments himself that he never actually tried them out. How could he call himself a true  Alchemist? \

As time was running short, Drew understood that every bit of manpower was required in order to have a fighting chance at getting the cure out on time. Without further ado, Drew swept off all the records off his desk and pressed a button. In seconds, an elaborate lab setup equipped with everything, including a testing machine, materialized itself before Drew’s eyes. Drew opened up the experiments tab on the lab’s server and selected one that wasn’t completed. 

The experiment required Drew to compare two channel recovery regiments together, a very simple experiment that required him to recreate the regiments that the other Alchemists had managed to decode. 

The first regiment was called Stream. Stream had a 75% success rate. It was known to be the least painful to ingest amongst the five regiments with 70% success rate or higher. The effects of Stream include healing internal scar tissues as well as Otrio Channel burns. Possible side effects of the Stream include a mild allergic reaction, nausea, diarrhea, and a reduction in the immune system's functions.

The second regiment Drew had to compare was called Moonshine. As the name implies, the regiment uses formally illegal herbs as its base. Its effect is also similar to that of bootlegged alcohol, strong and intoxicating. Hence it is also why it only has about a 72% success rate. If a person takes this regiment, they will have the urge to consume more of it which could eventually lead to a drug overdose. Basically death. 

It only took Drew half an hour to recreate both regiments since they were both E-Rank regiments. Stream, a glowing a dark blue, while Moonshine, a pure maple color, danced inside their respective vials. 

From Drew’s observations, both regiments utilized a couple of the same herbs and both of these herbs had to be crushed and blended together before being combined with the other ingredients. Drew found this part rather strange and looked at the other formulas. To his surprise, they also used the same herbs and process of crushing and blending. However, the crushing and blending times were different. 

What did the crushing and blending have to do with the success rate? 

So Drew decided to dig a bit further until a couple of Alchemists come crashing into his space. One female and one male Alchemist. 

The dark-skinned female alchemist had short purple hair with one strand of it looping around her galaxy-starred eyes. The male Alchemist had hazelnut hair with a pair of human ears as well as raccoon ears on both sides of his head. 

“Argh.” The male Alchemist with raccoon ears grunted lifting himself off the ground. “Terra, I thought we were going to do this in an orderly fashion.” 

“Well it’s your fault for being so slow, Alven!” The female Alchemist named Terra retorted to raccoon-eared Alven.” 

“Geez,” Alven shouted. “Don’t yell! I have four ears!” 

Terra hissed. 

“You’re the one yelling!” 

“Can I help you two?” Drew asked in a calm manner. He really wanted to laugh at their immature behavior but that would mean he would break character. 

Terra and Alven turned around to find ‘Snow’ standing right behind them. In their eyes, Drew was a menacing existence. 

“Oh sh-“ But before Alven could finish, Terra cupped her hand over his mouth.

It was an extremely awkward scene. 

To break the silence, Drew asked, “What brings you two here today?” 

“Do you wanna say it or should I?” Terra whispered to Alven quickly. 

“You do it-“ Alven spat while whispering back quickly. 

“Fine-“ Terra coughed before replying to Drew. “Boss, we’ve found something.” 

“What might that be?” 

“All five of the regiments use the same two herbs: Alicore Heart and Zyphericus Stem.”

Drew nodded.

He was already aware of this fact. 

“That’s not all, the ratio of each herb in the regiment are factors of five. Furthermore, the time that the herbs are blended and crushed are also factors of five!” 

“Why’s that?” 

“We’re not quite sure either which is why we have to conduct more experiments,” Alven replied hastily.

Terra then added, “One last thing, all the herbs utilized in the regiments are stabilizers or add ons. In other words, they’re just fluff. We believe that the key to creating the second part of the cure lies in those two herbs.” 

“Good,” Drew smiled. It’s hasn’t been a day and the Alchemists we’re making substantial progress. “Please do some research on the two herbs. Also, try making an extract with the two herbs alone, I want to test something.” 

The two Alchemists, Terra and Alven had a hunch at what ‘Snow’ was going to do. They thought it was completely crazy but would ‘Snow’ have gotten to where he is without being a little crazy? 

Of course not! 

Only by taking risks would there be a chance at success. 

Without questioning his intentions any farther, Terra and Alven swiftly responded to ‘Snow’s’ orders: “As you wish.” 

We’re almost there. Just hold on, Neilson. Jay. 

>>>

Quite a number of kilometers away, hidden several layers below Ozwarth’s shinning surface. A man sat at a rusted steel desk lit by the dim light of his desk lamp. 

The man appeared to be in his early forties, still young but definitely past his prime. He had dirty blond hair with streaks of brown. His face had a couple of scars, one right under his eye while the other was beneath his chin. His stubble was messy and his lime eyes had dark circles under them, most likely due to stress. His ears were long and pointed, a clear sign that he was an Elf. He wore a faux leather jacket, a rather worn-out one, in fact. One could even see the tears and smudge marks on it but it gave the jacket a sort of sentimental value. Beneath the jacket, the man wore a white collared shirt with a black tie. Pretty standard work attire that made him appear like every other citizen in Ozwarth. However, one could tell that despite how much of a mess he appeared to be, he had an aura of refinement and wisdom. If he cleaned up a bit he would definitely attract the wandering eyes of females. 

“Commissioner” A young man called out out the gruff-looking man. “We have been unable to get in touch with Neilson.” 

“Strange.” The Elf known as the Commissioner said lighting a cigarette. “The man never forgets to pick up.” 

“He must be busy.” The young man replied. 

After working under the Commissioner for a couple of months, the young man came to learn of the dark secrets of Ozwarth. How the Borealis was the home to the Crows Eye. Heartman’s connections to the underworld. The Leaders of various organizations, some unexpected like Ling Uenkram. It was like he was watching the opening of Pandora’s box. And in the middle of it all, Snow. Snow was this era’s main character. Yet, in spite of learning about all these secrets, he still hadn’t found what he was looking for. 

The Commissioner sighed. 

“That old cat, I wonder what he’s up to not respond to any calls? Whatever it is, I’ll find out anyway.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” the young man interrupted. “How long have you been acquainted with the leader of the Crows Eye?” 

“Fifteen years.” The Commissioner said blowing out a puff of smoke.

“That's a long time. I've noticed that you've got a lot of evidence on him. How come we haven't arrested him yet?” The young man asked tapping the pistol strapped to the sides of his legs. 

“You fool,” the Commissioner chuckled. “Taking down Neilson is the same thing as destroying Ozwarth itself. Plus, Neilson is our most valuable source of information.” 

“But he charges you a lot for the information.” 

“A small price to pay.” The Commissioner smiled. “As crafty as the old Feline is, he still needs us. In a sense, we act as his eyes and ears in exchange for his information.” 

The young man wondered what exactly he had gotten himself into. He joined the Commissioner in hopes to figure out the missing piece of information to his puzzle. However, the more he learned the more he realized what kind of rabbit hole he was spiraling downs. The people involved were too powerful for him to deal with as he is. 

The young man couldn’t help but frown. 

“You don’t understand kid,” the Commissioner continued. “To defeat the demons one must become a demon themself. To become a demon, you must also make a deal with the devil. You can’t simply bring justice using idealistic means or by playing by the rules. You have to break those rules, utilize loopholes, only that way can you stand on the same playing field as your opponents. Our city is full of corruption and the only way to end it is to do it this way.” 

“Is that why you left?” The young man asked. 

“Part of it but I’ll save that story for another time. Grab your stuff, we’re out to catch another dealer.” 

The young man smiled twirling around one of his pistols the Otrio Cores embedded on its side glowing a soft hue. 

“Who’s it this time?”

“Ling Uenkram. Gotta nip the bud before it blooms.”  

“You got it.”