There were only a few days remaining before classes began at Star. The quota for the first Phase Sylvia's project had been met a few days earlier than expected which allowed for the group to spend the rest of vacation training as Sylvia planned the next Phase of the project. In his room, Drew sat on the floor with his legs crossed as he gathered the surrounding Otrio to himself, his Core rapidly spinning at an astonishing rate. He was almost there...E-Class.

Once Drew broke into High F-Class, he had found himself at a bottleneck which wasn't too surprising knowing that he was close to breaking through into the next Rank. The reason for this bottleneck was due to the ways Cores expand. The way an Otrio Core expands is when Otrio particles come together and condense into a ball that stores all the energy from the Otrio gathered ready to be used. However, a Core can only store so much Otrio before it bursts that why Otrio accumulation is slow and that accumulation gets slower as the Core reaches Carrying Capacity, basically Core's limit in storing Otrio, which is dictated by the Rank at which an Intergalactic Warrior is at. The higher one's Rank is, the higher their Carrying Capacity is. As a person gets closer to breaking through, the Carrying Capacity of the Core reduces until the Core is ready to expand, signifying a breakthrough into the next Rank. The last ten Krasos of every Rank is where most people get stuck since their Cores need time to prepare for a full-on breakthrough thus, a person could be stuck at one Rank for months or years depending on circumstances.

Now, after almost two months, Drew felt as though his Core was going to burst. The familiar sensation in his chest confirmed this. Readjusting himself on the floor, Drew closed his eyes and imagined his Core, the blue and green Otrio particles circling around like a carousel, spiraling, and condensing. It was painful. Drew bit his lip, trying to suppress the pain but it was futile. His muscles tensed up, the veins on each arm could be seen, their blue color penetrating through the layer of his skin. The particles spiraled even faster as a small sphere begun to form in the center of the whirling Otrio vortex which was growing larger at an astonishing rate. Minutes passed and all of the particles have been compressed into one glowing blue and green sphere the size of a baseball with the sound of a loud pop. Drew felt his bones crack but it felt refreshing as if shackles were removed from his body. He felt as if he could fly. Opening his eyes, Drew felt power brimming through his body. He could feel that his senses have grown even stronger. It was a success! He had broken into E-Class. 

Taking a look at himself in the full-length mirror mounted onto the closet door, Drew found that some drastic changes have occurred to his body. His eyes had turned an amber color, almost like a hawk's, with a black pupil striking their center. His hair had changed, its original green color had turned into a frosty blue, he could feel a chill emitting from the tips of his hair. That wasn't all. Something was on his back. It was faint but Drew could tell they were a pair of ethereal wings, white ethereal wings. They weren't that wide, only spanning from the middle of his back to his elbow. It seems that breaking through into E-Class had also allowed him to awaken his Snowhawk bloodline. 

Now that he had awakened his bloodline the next question was, how could he revert back to his default appearance? Opening up the program for instructions, Drew also realized that a few new lines have been added to his profile besides the usual upgrades to his current Abilities. But this time, the profile window was different. Not only were his current Abilities recorded but even his predicted and new Abilities have been shown. They were no longer just a bunch of question marks.  

[Name: Drew Li (Real Name: Aaron Night de Winter)

Age: 17 

DOB: July 26th, 0456 IE

Race: Avian (Mix blood: Snowhawk [Hidden] (Active)/Nightingale (Inactive)) 

Rank: Low E-Class Genetic Warrior

Otrio: 500 Krasos

Otrio Attribute: Wind/ (Ice [Hidden]) 

Genetic Ability: Aegis, Clone, ??? (Unlocks at C-Class)

Subsidiary Abilities [Aegis]: 

                  [Mobility] You can move [Aegis] away from you. The range is about 100 meters. 

                  [Size Change] You can change the size of [Aegis] from 5 cm to 500 cm.

                  [Ricochet] You can reflect two objects/attacks off of [Aegis] at double the speed and power at a time. If more than two objects/attacks hits [Aegis] at the same time, the effect of [Ricochet] grows weaker. 

                  [Thickness] You can now change the thickness of Aegis. The range is about 1 cm to 5cm. By changing the thickness of [Aegis] you will also gain the ability to fend off stronger attacks. This will vary.                    

                 Other Characteristics [Aegis] You can move [Aegis] about 200 kph. You can also use [Aegis] offensively like a knife.   

Subsidiary Abilities [Clone]: 

                 [Object Duplication] You can duplicate anything that is inanimate including [Aegis]. The duplicated item will be tangible for 5 seconds. You may add additional Otrio to make it last longer.  

Bloodline (Ability (Race Ability)): Shapeshift (Hair/Eye/Skin Color and Height ONLY! Can shift between Snowhawk and Nightengale forms), Ice Manipulation (Snowhawk Exclusive: Can use in both Nightengale and Snowhawk forms [Hidden]), ??? (Unlocks at C-Class)]

It seems to Drew that as he got stronger, more functions on Uncle Winter's program unlocked. Now, instead of leaving him to his own devices on figuring out his Abilities, the program had provided some clarity about his new Abilities. Although Drew didn't want to admit it, he knew that he heavily relied on Uncle Winter's program to get to where he is now but it was truly amazing how was Uncle Winter able to calculate Drew's progress through pure calculations and predictions. He must have invested a lot of time into creating this program knowing that the current events would have sent him down this path. 

Pulling himself out of his fascination, Drew skimmed the new lines added to his profile. It turns out that the activation of his Snowhawk bloodline and his new appearance were connected to his [Shapeshift] Ability. Thus, he is able to freely change between the two appearances or should he say forms. Utilizing [Shapeshift], Drew's appearance returned back to its default form, his ice blue hair turning back to its original green, which turned out to be his Nightengale form. Glancing over at the screen, Drew realized that not even a Krasos was used to deactivate his Snowhawk form and activate his Nightengale form meaning that he didn't have to worry about switching between the two if the situation calls for it.  

Solving his first problem, Drew took a look at his new Abilities. The first one was [Clone]. Drew picked up a pencil off his desk and twirled it between his fingers. Focusing on the dancing pencil, Drew activated his Otrio and envisioned himself creating the perfect [Clone], a replica of the pencil. He gathered a ball Otrio in the palm of his non-dominant hand allowing for it to mold itself, like clay. The Otrio in his palm squeezed together forming all sorts of weird shapes but most of them were indistinguishable to Drew until the Otrio stopped. Suddenly, the ball of green Otrio expanded laterally growing longer until it became the length of the pencil. Next, one end of the reformed Otrio pinched together, forming a tip that Drew could tell was going to be the writing end of the pencil while the other end rounded off slightly to create the eraser part of the pencil. A few seconds later, the Otrio replica was completed, the green hue engulfing the replica dispersed, leaving a perfect copy of the pencil in Drew's dominant hand. It one looked at the two, they couldn't tell the difference. It was impeccable! Though, it was a shame that the replica could only be tangible for five seconds. Maybe he could make it last longer if he continued to add Otrio but it seems as though that would be too costly as of now. To make the replica last another second, it required 100 Krasos of Otrio per second. 

Watching as the replica burst into green Otrio particles, Drew decided to look at his other new Ability, [Ice Manipulation] and it was Snowhawk Exclusive! Each Otrio Attribute: Fire, Ice, Life, Water, Earth, etc, has a Manipulation which is exclusive to each race. For instance, the [Ice Manipulation] of a Snowhawk is centered around gathering Ice Otrio particles in the air while the [Ice Manipulation] of a Spirit is centered around creating Ice utilizing the Otrio contained in one's body thus both Manipulations are different. Since Drew's was a Snowhawk, that meant he could utilize the Otrio particles around him to create Ice. As such, he wasn't limited to the Otrio in his body to create Ice. 

Closing his eyes, Drew tried to isolate the light blue Ice Otrio particles from the green Wind Otrio Particles in his room. The green particles faded out leaving only the blue ones floating in the room. Each one glowing as bright as star. Taking deep breaths in and out, Drew focused on each blue particle, gathering them together in front of his body. The blue particles grew closer together, condensing into a crystalloid structure. A faint chill emitting from the particles as they converged together. Feeling this chill, Drew opened his eyes. A small blue crystal danced in the center of his palm, hovering centimeters above it. It was a success...until the small crystal formed cracks then shattered into a million pieces, the shards scattering through the air, melting before they made contact with the ground. Watching his first crystal burst, Drew felt a little disappointed. It seems like he's going to need more practice.

This wasn't surprising but why was [Ice Manipulation] hidden? Similar to his Ice Attribute, Drew couldn't understand as to why Uncle Winter would want him to conceal that fact? Perhaps it has to do with those people who were after him? If so, it would make sense why Uncle Winter would want him to hide it. After all, it not every day you see a mixed-blood Avain and most of them, from his current knowledge, are considerably strong thus it's understandable why many powers would want him especially since he's the offspring of two major Avain races. Drew knew he had to figure this out soon despite the fact that Uncle Winter and Uncle Ryhard said he was 'out of danger'. How long was the question... As such, Drew pushed that matter to the back burner for now. No matter the reason, Drew would adhere to Uncle Winter’s wishes because he knew that they were for his own safety. It's a shame that he wouldn't be able to tell Elias or Wan for some time until he got stronger. Strong enough to not be shielded by others. 

Now that he had a grasp on his current Abilities, Drew left his room and headed down to the shop floor where Uncle Ryhard had been cleaning up early for the day. As he emerged from the stairway, Uncle Ryhard took a glance at Drew, feeling that his aura had grown substantially stronger than last time. A surprised expression formed on his face. 

"It seems you have broken through..." 

"I guess so," Drew replied scratching the back of his head. "It took a while but luckily I didn't shatter my Core." 

"That's good to hear," Uncle Ryhard said placing down his towel next to the cash register. "Shall I tell you your next steps then?" 

Drew nodded dragging over the stool that sat by the doorway leading to the stairway. 

"Very well, let's begin. It the perfect time as Elias just left a minute ago." 

Uncle Ryhard scurried over to the backroom before emerging out with a letter. Handing the letter over the letter, Drew noticed that it was addressed to him from Uncle Winter. Without any hesitation, Drew opened the letter, unfolding each flap which revealed two clean pages of neat cursive writing. 

Congratulations Drew, 

You have reached the next step on your path to becoming an Intergalactic Warrior. E-Class is where you begin to get into deeper waters. It's where you build your foundation for your future career as an Intergalactic Warrior. Whether it be as a Scout, a Medic, an Assassin, etc. that is all established here.

Moving on to more serious matters, I suppose that around half a year has passed since my death since you are receiving this letter from Uncle Ryhard. I will begin telling you about some more of the little details of the conflict that lead to your parent's death. Prior to the conflict, there were existing tensions between your parent's families. Some of them are obvious, others shall not be mentioned until you reach C-Class. Your birth was the final trigger that sparked a war between them. However, besides the two major families involved in this conflict, there were also many smaller families involved. These families took advantage of the chaos to reap major benefits from the Winter and the Night families allowing them to rise in power and influence. These benefits included connections to other families, stocks, underground resources just to name a few. The family who reaped the most was the Goujian family from Earth. 

The Goujian family had double-crossed the Winter and the Night families out of the blue. After the fall of both families, the Goujian's stole a majority of their wealth, utilizing it to gain political power on Earth. As you may have learned from reading the news, the current head of the Goujian family is the current Prime Minister of Earth who is slowly garnering support to rise to the Orion Alliance High Council. On the surface, his actions don't seem to reflect any illegal activities but below that, his blood runs with pure evil. He was one of the main causes of your parent's death but not the primary. That's not all, as I investigated this matter over the years, it seems that there is some higher being manipulating the Goujian's, I'm not quite sure who it which is why I believe that information could be found in the Scorpion Horde's databases. Before I could depart, you have already guessed, I died. So it seems that conflict wasn't as stupid as it seems to us. 

A turmoil of emotions flowed onto Drew's face. The father of the man everyone idolized was involved in his parent's death. This was exactly a H*rry O*borne situation and it seemed freaking ridiculous, ludicrous, but true. It was happening to him.  

I know that you might want to exact vengeance on him after reading this but I'm warning you that you shouldn't until you've gotten more information on the whole situation. Thus, I suggest you get stronger, as mentioned briefly in the previous letter, C-Class, then enter the Scorpion Horde to gain access to that information. More instructions will be provided in the next letter. As for now, you should find Gerald Griffin, my father, and the former head of the Griffin family. When the Winter family was eradicated, the Griffin family whom served them was split up. My father served both your father and you and his loyalty is unquestionable to your family. He is currently running a bar in Ozwarth's Yerburn District North of the Civic Center. The address is at the bottom of this letter. Stay safe and continue to not reveal the fact that you're part Snowhawk to anyone other than the people I have stated in the letters.

Yours Truly, 

Uncle Winter 

5790 Bridgeway Rd. (Yerburn District 5th Alleyway to the left of Yerburn Station)

Ozwarth, KR

"Have you finished reading it?" Uncle Ryhard asked folding his arms together. 

"Yes, he says that I need to find someone called Gerald Reeves." 

"Oh ho ho ho," Uncle Ryhard let out a jolly laugh, "perfect timing!"

Drew cocked his head in confusion.

"What do you mean by that?" 

"It seems that I have nothing left to teach you for Alchemy. I've only taught you the basics as that's all I needed during my time in the Military. Gerald can teach you more. Additionally, he a better teacher than me when it comes to the Scout position." Uncle Ryhard laughed with embarrassment. "I wasn't a good teacher wasn't I?" 

Drew was flustered. 

"No, no! You taught me a lot in these past six months. Rather I feel grateful after all the things you've done for me." 

"There's no need to say that...I'm just repaying the debt your father gave to me. It seems that it won't be completed for some time. Now go, make sure to come back not too late." 

Drew propped himself off the stool. "I'll be taking my leave then. I'll be back soon." 

"Take care." 

"I will." Drew nodded tipping his hat before bursting through the door. 

 As Drew's figure disappeared, Uncle Ryhard leaned his back against the wall looking up at the light shining right in his face. 

"He definitely takes after you, Gareth. I'm worried for what the future holds in store for him."