"So, you're staying in the car? Or you wanna try your luck at getting inside with me,

" he asked the snake, who quickly responded.

"Me? I'm going with you. If they say I have to stay outside, I can leave then,

" she said, still sounding snarky, and making Noah realize she was trully angry at him for what had happened.

Shrinking just a little, Lilith slid across the car towards Noah's door, following him out. In truth, she wanted to become even smaller, but even after trying to force the process with all her will, she only managed to become an inch shorter at best. Noah himself didn't mind the added weight, but both of them knew for a fact that the larger she was,the harder it would be for her to be allowed inside with him. Before leaving the car, though, while Lilith climbed her way to his shoulders, Noah emptied his pockets of the pointless gifts, leavingonly the two pearls and the tokens behind, aside from the things he always took with him.

"Let's go?

" he asked Lilith aloud, turning to close the car door.

'Are you gonna leave the Essence just laying there? It wouldn't surprise me if someone tried to break in to steal it,' Lilith whispered into his head, teasing him.

Knowing fully well he was already sick of people messing with the car he was driving, all that remained was to see who was gonna get the low tier essence in question.

"Come on,take that ** already, I could give it to the imps but I don't feel like risking my identity getting out just for that.

The snake happily dropped herself to the ground, showing Noah just how large she'd become. Especially considering she just barely couldn't reach the ground straight from his shoulder. 'Hehe...' she giggled in his mind, as she started to bite the lids and swallow the essence. 'Noah...' she called him out, making Noah's focus come back from somewhere else and his eyes to land on the snake.

"Wait, wait, wait! Did you just become **ing larger?!

" Noah was surprised to see Lilith had grown, and, taking into account she was on her smallest possible size, it made him nervous. 'To think only that much of the weak essence would make you grow like this...' He facepalmed, as the snake turned her head towards him with a pleading face. 'At least try to see if you can get smaller this time,' he said, thinking about solutions.

'Dun wanna... My head hurts when I try,' she said, only to cross eyes with Noah's extremely serious gaze. 'Okay, I'll try!' she conceded, focusing on becoming smaller. Contrary to the two's expectation, though, she managed to become the same size as last time, but considerably slimmer.

"Now that's interesting... How did you change that?

" Noah asked, surprised at the smaller thickness he'd not yet seen.

'No idea. I just tried to become smaller and realized I could change that instead of lenght.' The snake's words made it seem as if she was shrugging, but she quickly darted across the ground onto Noah, coiling around him, 'Since I'm thinner, I cancoil more times, so it becomes less bulky,' she said with a joyous expression, coiling herself a few turn aroud his arm and neck.

"Fine, just make sure not to strangle me,' he shurgged,closing the car and walking across the road towards the bank.

Once passing through the large rotating doors, the marble and brass interior filled his vision. This was the largest bank agency in the entire Eyrin, and also the only official bank that had been around for longer than a few generations. Most had not bore the weight of the monster attacks at the beginning of the fortress breakouts, and lost their fortunes in pointless investment or funding the early Blessed Effort, before ranks became standard, and lost tonds of money to weak but vocal Blessed. After all that happened, only the Eyrin Central Bank remained, with the blessing of the banks in the capital to continue their monopoly in the city. But being independent, they also managed to attract money from outside the city, becoming a haven for large institutions like the Nine Families.

"Excuse me, sir. Animals are fobidden in these premises,

" a woman addressed him not long after he entered, making Noah turn to face her. She had a plainappearance that was easy on the eyes, which explained her position as a hostess here, but from what he could see, she was also way low on the food-chain, and not even worth spending his time.

"Excuse me,

" Noah heard her call him with rsuhed steps, as she followed after him after being completely ignored, Lilith's giggles echoing inside his mind.

"What seems to be the problem here?

" Before he had reached the main information desk, a male voice called him from the side, and he turned to see the woman bow at a man in a suit. Noah stared him up and down, tying to evaluate whether he would be of any help.

The man shuddered, feeling the pressure of Noah's gaze as he was stared down, the young man seemingly unphased byhis presence or question. Realizing Noah was more than meets the eye, he quickly changed his ways,

"I'm sorry for the bother, sir. What can our institution help you with?

"

Seeing her boss respectfully welcome the young man, the woman paled, fearing her job would be on the line if the man she had bothered was to so much as wince.

Noah felt a little pity at her, seeing her fearful eyes as she bowed silently to him, almost as if begging.

"I am here to transfer a few tokens and deposit some funds. I also have to cash-in the outstanding credit from an affiliated sports bet,

" Absentmindedly, Noah listed all his business with the bank, making both employees stare at each other in disbelief, thinking it must be a fluke.

"Excuse me, sir, but could you please let me know your name? We will verify how to best serve you with that information,

" the man asked, Noah not failing to notice him send signals to security.

"Stern, Noah Stern,

" Noah told his name without a hint of emotion, understanding a 20-something year old, addorned with a large snake, claiming to have a lot of business and money, would probably sound incredibly suspicious. But he also knew it was all about to change anyways.

The man excused himself, leaving him and the woman standing in the middle of the lobby, with an embarassing silence, as other customers passed them by on their way out. Noah could feel how embarassed the woman felt, as both of them could clearly see others around recognize and whisper while pointing at him. To her, the problem was that she had no clue why such important people would be behaving like this.

Suddenly, the two turned to the sound of yells in the distance, coming from the place the man had gone to. Soon after, the woman turned the color of a candle, seeing three men hurriedly make their way towards them, one of which her manager, who looked incredibly humiliated with a bright red face.

"Elder Stern, our bank wholeheardtedly apologizes for the unbefitting behavior or our employees. We were warned in advance of your visit, but it seems afew of them missed the memo,

" with fear and anger in his voice, a fat man with formal clothes lowered his head to him. Noah quickly recognized him as the fat man who struggled with his slimming belt at that party he attended a while back at Carlos' house.

"It's okay. Since I just recently became a relevant client of this bank, I will let it slide without issue,

" he said, staring at the woman who had a brightly hopeful expression.

"Also, it is good to see you have gotten used to your clothes, after what happened at the Automotive Company's event...

" Noah teased the man, seeing his face grow red.

"H—how did you know about that?

" the man stuttered, bright red.

"I am a childhood friend of the President's son. I also attended,

" Noah shrugged, still keeping his cold tone.

"I see, I'm sorry you had to witness such a thing. I also hope you will let this memory be forgotten for good,

" the man took somethingfrom his pocket, extending his hand forward with a piece of paper.

Noah qucikly took it, checking the information on the card, before the man continued.

"Now, about your business, shall we head to a provate room to discuss the information?

" the fat man straightened himself, calling Noah away with the other man on his tow, leaving the two people who initially saw him in standing shocked.

"Did he just force the Head Manager into silencing him with a deal?

" Noah heard the woman whisper behind, as they slowly walked towards the elevator.

"Shh! You never saw any of this happening. This is way above us, I almost got my ass handed to me for not calling them as soon as he entered the building,

" the man fixed his tie nervously, grabbing the woman by the shoulders as Noah watched with the corners of his eyes with curiosity.

"Listen, you now are in charge of welcoming him every time he enters.

"

"What about the snake—

" the woman started asking, only to be interrupted, much to Noah's fun.

"Who cares! If he comes with a cow, welcome him in,give him something to drink, and call those two from inside immediately!

"

'You should turn into a cow next time,' Noah muttered in his mind while holding his laughter in.

'What? Cow?' Lilith, on the other hand, was entirely lost as she had missed the entire funny conversation.