It was Saturday.
According to Alvin and Terra’s report, Drew had recreated the regiments they handed to him the day prior.
“It really is 100% successful.”
Not a single time has the regiment failed in the testing machine. It had been perfected.
Alvin and Terra walked into the room in the middle of his thoughts. Their faces full of anxiety and fear. They still had their reservations regarding Snow, thinking that he was the same as Heartman.
“Don’t worry, I won’t bite,” Drew spoke calmly with hopes of relieving their tension.
“It’s not that,” Alvin replied in a flustered manner. “We just wanted to confirm something.”
“Ask away.”
“What’s going to happen now that this project is almost over?” Terra asked, placing her hands on her hips. After the entire fiasco with Heartman, she wanted to make sure that Snow would uphold his end of the contract.
Drew smiled. Usually, smiles like this didn’t give Alvin or Terra a comfortable feeling.
“You’ll be compensated accordingly. The contract states that you’ll receive 10 million Kalas in compensation. However, I’ve decided to alter. I’ll be tacking on a little bonus for you two. You will receive an additional 5% compensation for every regiment sold.”
Alvin stood there in complete disbelief.
“I’m sorry, sir, can you repeat that?”
“You’ll be granted an additional 5% for every one of these regiments sold.”
“Boss, this is too much.” Terra stuttered. “Are you sure about this?”
“Of course, you two optimized the regiment, so this much of a bonus is well deserved. We’ll be sending the money via direct deposits monthly upon the release of the regiment.”
“When will that be?”
“A few months from now,” Drew replied. “ As for your second reward-“
“Wait! There’s more?!” The duo shouted in shock.
Drew laughed inwardly as he circled around his desk.
“Neilson made me aware that all the Alchemists here have some grudge against Heartman. As you know, he and I are also not on amicable terms. So I’ve decided we’re gonna play a little game and you recall all those experiential regiments we’ve made?”
“I thought we were going to discard those?” Alvin asked.
“In normal cases, we would,” Drew replied. “However, I think we can put them to greater use. What do you say? How would you like to get some payback on Heartman?”
Alvin and Terra could tell Snow’s words held no lies. The revenge they’ve always wanted to get against Heartman was impossible for two small Alchemists like themselves. However, because Snow was willing to step in and back them up, what was there to fear? Snow was possible one of the few people who could make Heartman lose his composure. Plus, he seemed to have the backing to do so. If Snow was willing to take the risk of going up against Heartman, of course, Alvin and Terra couldn’t turn him down. This was their opportunity to make the entire Heartman Foundation bow down before them.
“We accept!”
>>>
Two weeks passed, and the Otrio Blood Poisoning Regiment was finally complete. Drew had to run some final tests just to confirm that the regiment was ready to go and now, it had been perfected.
“Gerald, get the car. We’re heading to Star Military Academy Hospital!”
He was in a good mood.
Everything was proceeding according to plan. As he loaded the briefcase with the completed Otrio Blood Regiment into the back seat of the sleek black vehicle. Drew felt his wristband vibrate.
It was Jay.
“Young Master!!!” An anxious voice answered over the line. “You have to hurry. The poison has penetrated her heart!”
“How long do we have?”
“An hour!”
“Gerald, we’ve gotta go!” Drew called before ending his call with Jay. “Jay we’re leaving now. We’ll be there ASAP!”
Gerald replied as he set the car to manual, “Understood, Young Master.”
From the warehouse to the hospital was about thirty minutes. It was peak traveling hour so the highways were going to be congested which would back up travel time to an hour. Even if Gerald took the back roads, it would take 45 minutes.
Wait, Drew recalled. The underground tunnel system the Crow’s Eye uses for transportation. One of the routes leads back to the Academy hospital. It would ignore all of the traffic and I can use it because I’m also a member of the Crow’s Eye.
“Gerald, take the underground tunnel back to the hospital.”
“Oh my,” Gerald smiled impressed by how swiftly Drew made his decision. It seems Drew has become more quick-witted recently. “As you command, Young Master.”
Gerald stomped on the pedal of the Otrio-fueled Rolls Royce and speed off into the darkness.
>>>
In the hospital, five doctors surrounded Mrs. Crossford’s limp body. Their Otrio, finely targeting the ferocious blood poison that has penetrated the heart. It was as if the beast were still alive but fighting for dominance over its host’s body.
Jay watched hopelessly.
Over these past few months, Jay was granted the task of monitoring his mother’s health and nothing else. Yet, at this very moment, Jay felt useless. He couldn’t do anything as he watched his mother take her dying breaths. The doctors were also running low on Otrio and it didn’t seem like they would last much longer. Then, at that very moment, he recalled Drew’s words.
"If your mom saw you like this what would she say? How would she feel about you doing this, you idiotic pussy!" (A/N: Refer to Chapter 52).
“Fuck,” Jay cursed under his breath. He couldn’t stand around and be the useless person he was. Not in the face of his dying mother. “Doctor, I’ll help out.”
“Stay back, Jason.” The doctor that had been monitoring his mother over the last few years warned as he concentrated on containing the poisonous blood. “You’re interfering with the containment process. Your mother might die if you join in.”
“Who said I was going to touch her?” Jay spoke calmly before swiftly pushing a doctor’s back. His fingers dug slightly into the doctor’s flesh.
The other doctor that had been conversing with Jay suddenly sensed his Otrio being released, flowing into the back of his colleague.
“Hey, what are you doing?!” The doctor shouted.
“Stopping myself from being more pathetic than I am.”
[Reverse Flow]
Bang.
The doctor’s eyes shot open as if he were enlightened by some divine being. At that same moment, the doctor felt all the fatigue in his body being washed away by his own Otrio. His Otrio channels widened as a surge of energy rushed to his Otrio Core.
“What the-“
Bang.
Another doctor was hit by that mystical palm. Her body jolted up from the initial impact as if she were shocked by electricity. Then, a wave of Otrio coursed through her channels, causing her body to relax a bit.
“It feels like…my Otrio has been replenished.”
The doctor muttered to herself in shock as she attempted to regain her focus. It happened much faster than she anticipated, like she drinking a cup of hot tea. Soothing to the mind.
What kind of skill is this? The doctor exclaimed in his mind watching Jay performing the same swift palm action on the other doctors.
Bang.
The doctor felt Jay’s palm make contact with his back. The same initial reaction of shock and succeeding soothing sensation in his body due to the sudden rush of Otrio made him realize what was happening.
Otrio channels contract the more Otrio is utilized within a certain duration of time. This also causes the muscles in one’s to tense up which consumes a person’s stamina while also preventing any more Otrio from passing through the Otrio channels. However, when Jay struck the doctors’ backs, he forcefully widened the Otrio channels so that more Otrio could flow through the channels. At the same time, he also relieved the pressure on the doctors’ muscles.
This wasn’t a Technique that could be mastered easily. The doctor deduced. It requires speed, fine Otrio control, and extensive knowledge of pressure points and channel flows. Depending on the individual's race, the location of pressure points and Otrio channels will differ. This youngster must’ve spent quite some effort refining this technique. Star students, even if they’re in the Low-Class, are terrifying.
“Thank you,” The doctor quickly apologized before continuing the containment process.
Jay nodded, glancing down at his left palm.
“Not at all.”
>>>
In a sleek black Rolls Royce speeding down the dark tunnels of Ozwarth, Drew could feel his body being jostled around as Gerald made a sharp right turn.
His speed currently at 200 kilometers per hour (120 miles per hour), and still climbing. He even set the car to hover mode to reduce travel time further.
“What’s our ETA?” Drew shouted from the back, clutching onto the briefcase containing the regiment for dear life.
“Approximately five minutes, Young Master. We’ll be exiting in just a moment.”
With the press of a button, a concrete wall vanished. As Gerald stomped on the accelerator, light filtered from the exit, letting the Rolls Royce fly out from the opening. The exit that Gerald had taken was integrated into one of the pillars supporting the highway, hidden in a spot away from any cameras.
Due to strict regulations in the city, cars we’re not allowed to be operated in hover mode during peak commute hours to reduce the chances of collisions. With the increase in population in Ozwarth, hover mode could only be used in flight designated zones. Unfortunately for Drew and Gerald, the current route was the fastest but did not have a flight designated zone. On top of that, it was now 3 o’clock, which was the busiest time on the roads on Saturdays.
“Shit,” Drew cursed as the Rolls Royce was stopped by the car in front of it and on both sides. “This was also the shortest route to the hospital.”
“It appears a major accident has occurred up ahead, Young Master. Quite the predicament we are in right now.”
Drew glanced out the window, the Academy hospital out in the distance.
“I can run there.”
“It appears that’s the only way we’ll make it on time.”
Drew’s Snowhawk form melted away into his default Nightengale appearance with the snap of his fingers. Tossing aside the long white trench coat that served as his trademark as Snow, Drew looked no different than an ordinary worker. It was good that pretty much everything else in Snow’s outfit was normal-looking.
“I’ll see you at the hospital!” Drew shouted as he slammed the door behind him.
“Take care.”
Taking a deep breath, Drew activated [Aegis] in midair. Hopping on top of the platform he created, he realized how sturdy [Aegis] was at his current level. It supports his weight effortlessly. However, now wasn’t the time to think about that. He cast another [Aegis] platform the size of the sole of his shoe and stepped on it as if it were a stair. Then with a great leap forward, Drew propelled himself off the platforms he created, soaring over the long line of traffic clogging up the highway.
Within seconds, he had covered about a fourth of a kilometer in the distance.
>>>
“Mama! Look outside!” A kid sitting inside a car shouted, pointing at the figure soaring through the air over the traffic.
The kid’s mother looked up. The green-haired figure blurred past her vision.
“He’s fast.”
“Do you think I’ll be able to go that fast someday?”
The mother smiled at her son.
“Perhaps, son.”
“We’ll have to check what your Ability is next year.”
>>>
Let’s try something else.
As Drew descended, he cast another [Aegis] but this time added an [Ricochet] effect onto it. Using his sharpened Otrio control, Drew manipulated [Aegis] to spring forward. The moment his foot landed on the small platform, he felt his body accelerating at an explosive speed.
His figure darted across the sky as he approached the hospital building wall.
“Shit,” Drew cursed under his breath as the glass wall of the hospital was only a few meters away from him. This was the first time he had used [Aegis] with an [Ricochet] effect on himself but he didn’t think that it would cause him to cover the remaining two kilometers in three seconds. However, now he needed to think of a way to stop himself.
Drew cast [Aegis] once more parallel to the hospital wall. Using his momentum, Drew flipped his body till his eyes could see the route he had traversed instantly. Drew stamped his foot onto [Aegis] with precise aim, scanning for a safe place to land. Luckily, a lamp post was just twenty meters in front of him. Drew propelled his body away from the hospital wall to the lamppost, clutching onto the briefcase tightly in his hand.
He cast [Aegis] at an angle slanting downward from the lamp post one last time. Drew planted his left foot on the panel, pushing himself downward till he was met with the hospital's automatic doors. The soles of his shoes skidded across the concrete, causing Drew to lose his balance nearly.
“I need to practice landing at high speeds. Plus-“
I wrecked a pair of shoes worth 850 Kala. Drew cried to himself silently as he bolted into the hospital.
There wasn't much time left.
>>>
Two of the doctors had collapsed onto the ground from Otrio depletion in the inpatient ward.
The three remaining barely holding out.
"Kid, how long till the medicine arrives?"
The moment Drew left the warehouse, he had shared his location with Jay. Jay currently had his tracking application open, the red dot representing Drew approaching closer to the room.
"He should be here any moment."
Fwoosh.
The doors to the room opened.
Leaning against the doorframe was not Snow but a green-haired guy about Jay's age.
"Youn-" Jay caught himself before speaking. "Drew!"
"I made it." Drew panted, handing Jay the briefcase. "Inside this case is the cure. Snow managed to complete it. You must inject the red regiment first, then the blue one after exactly five seconds."
Jay flicked the latch on the briefcase before his very eyes were two vials without wasting a second. One with a bright crimson regiment and the other with an ice blue regiment.
Hearing Drew's instructions, one of the doctors rushed over to the case and uncapped both regiments revealing the sharp needle decorating their ends. Without further ado, the doctor stabbed the red regiment's vial into Mrs. Crossford's arm first, pressing the button on the vial to release the regiment into her bloodstream.
Pish.
"Thousand one. Thousand two. Thousand three. Thousand four. Thousand five."
Then, the doctor quickly administered the blue regiment to Mrs. Crossford.
Blue and red veins spread across Mrs. Crossford's body from her face down to her toe. The red burning away the Blood Poison at a high intensity while the blue healing her Otrio channels at an unforeseen rate. This phenomenon lasted for ten minutes, at which the glowing blue and red veins faded away.
Jay paced around the room anxiously.
The doctors bit their fingernails or stood frozen in their spots as they would witness a miracle.
Suddenly, a loud gasp could be heard.
Then a weak voice.
"Where am I?"
Jay hurried over to his mother's side. Tears welled up in his eyes.
"Mom!" He sobbed, his Feline ears drooping down. "Thank the Lord. You're alive."
"Jason..." Mrs. Crossford spoke softly. "You've grown up so much. How long has it been?"
"Five years," Jay replied, firmly holding onto his mother's hand. "Five years you were fighting the Blood Poison. It's over now."
"Where's Neil and Cassi?"
"Father and Sis are coming soon."
"What did I just witness?" One of the doctors asked, checking Mrs. Crossford's data. As he did, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. There was not even a trace of Blood Poison left in her bloodstream. The mystical regiment Drew brought into the room could completely cure Otrio Blood Poisoning. This was something not even nanomachines or technology on first-rate planets could do.
Another doctor shouted hysterically, not believing what she saw happen before her eyes.
"It's a miracle. A miracle!"
"Hey, green-haired kid." The lead doctor called out to Drew. "You work for Snow, right?"
Drew nodded. Although, he was Snow himself.
"Yes."
"You have an amazing boss. Send him my regards." The doctor smirked. He had witnessed something unbelievable occur right before his very eyes. "I'll need everyone out of here! I need to perform one last check. If things go well, Mrs. Crossford could be released by next week."
"Come on, Jay." Drew hollered from the doorway. "Let's give them some space."
"I'll see you soon, Mom." Jay smiled. He felt relieved for the first time.
"Will do."
This is a great conclusion to this Arc, keep it up! 👍