Drew was stunned.

  Even though he'd never seen one in person, he knew exactly what the box was.

  A compressed armory.

  Constructed using an Otrio Core, one could store items a hundred times their size and compress them into a smaller box. The value of even the lowest-grade compressed armory could cost upwards of tens of millions of Kalas. As for the one in the Avian's hands, it was a superior grade. A superior-grade armory was priceless, and the number of them that existed in the universe was less than ten thousand.

  This made Drew wonder how in the world did his father obtain one. Knowing that it's better not to question such things, Drew pressed the Core embedded in the center. A holographic screen popped up with a message: [Which item would you like to take out?]

  Drew touched the screen and scrolled right. There were only a few items in there. A short sword, a disc-shaped buckler, a sniper rifle, a Combat Manual, and a dagger. Drew tried to take something out, but a mysterious force pushed back his hand, preventing him from entering, so he closed the interface. As soon as he did, the armory spoke again.

  [Armory Closing]

  The box shrank to its original size, and Drew returned it to its leather pouch.

  He then moved on to the next item, the silver cuff earring. Taking a closer look at it, he noticed some complex engravings on it, which encased a small blue core the size of a bead. Drew knew it was some Artifact, but it was best to do nothing with it until he read the accompanying letter. The letter's envelope showed signs of aging as its corners turned slightly yellow. Drew delicately tore one end of the letter and removed the neatly folded letter from the envelope. Unfolding it slowly, Drew saw that the letter was much shorter than Uncle Winter's.

  Son,

  You're finally eighteen! We hope you are doing well despite us no longer being in this world. Your mother and I had to deal with some bad guys who wanted to take you away. Well, a lot. This may be sudden, but you are not just any normal Avian...

  Their letter repeated what Uncle Winter said in his, but the only difference was the last paragraph.

  You may have received some items in a package. The first would be the custom-made Superior Grade Armory from your mother's family, while the weapons there are from my travels. I placed a minor restriction on it since some items can only be used when you reach C-Rank, or your body will explode from Otrio backlash. The second item is the earring Artifact, a symbol of the Winter family and doubles your current Otrio capacity. Your mother modified it to prevent anyone from noticing the Otrio emitted from it unless they're above S-Rank or are part of a race with high Otrio sensitivity, such as Unicrons. Neat, eh? The last two items are the photo album, made by your mother, and my hat. We love you, our little Aaron.

  Hugs and Kisses,

  Your Parents

  For the first time in his life, Drew began to understand what a family was. No matter how far they are, whether dead or alive, they will always love you. His family may no longer be alive, but he rested a place for them in his heart. Folding the letter back into the envelope, Drew placed it on the ground. Uncle Winter had gotten close to the truth but did not even know the whole picture. Drew had to prepare himself for what was coming. He needed to get stronger to protect himself and understand why things played out the way they did all those years ago.

  Opening the Buddha box, he found a glowing blue medicine tube and some paperwork related to his adoption under Ryhard. Without any hesitation, Drew popped open the cap and swallowed the medicine in one swift moment. It tasted disgusting! The slimy sensation of the medicine stuck to his throat, and the vomit-like taste lingered on his taste buds. However, the taste doesn't matter! What matters are the effects that come right after.

  Five.

  Four.

  Three.

  Two.

  One.

  A warm sensation suddenly erupted in Drew's chest. Drew faltered. The sensation went from warm to hot, hot to burning. He was sweating heavily. His breath was staggering as he tried to control the burning sensation in his body. His throat was parched like he had run a marathon. His knees buckled. His head throbbed. He gasped for air. Pain. The pain was all he felt in those few moments.

  "Arghhhhhh!" He screamed in agony.

  The medicine's effects were almost over. The burning sensation subsided, and Drew felt like he could breathe again. Trying to find his balance, Drew suddenly felt a rush of cold energy. It was relaxing. Closing his eyes, he began to indulge in the cool sensation. His tensed-up muscles started to relax. He felt as though his senses had become a lot stronger. The dripping of water from the leaky faucet, the footsteps coming from the hallway, the sound of bells from the shops below, nothing within a ten-meter radius could escape him. Pressing a button on Uncle Winter's communication device, he checked his progress.

  [Name: Drew Li

  Age: 17

  DOB: July 26th, 0456 IE

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

  Rank: F-Rank

  Otrio: 100 Krasos

  Otrio Attribute: Wind/(Ice [Hidden])

  General Ability: [Aegis]

  Bloodline Ability: Shapeshift (Hair Color ONLY)]

  "Yes!" Drew jumped with excitement.

  He finally broke through to F-Rank, the entry threshold for becoming an Intergalactic Warrior. As Uncle Winter mentioned earlier, his Bloodline Ability would finally unlock at this point.

  This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

  A Bloodline Ability is different than a General Ability. While General Abilities can manifest in anyone, a Bloodline Ability can only awaken in individuals of a specific race. For instance, [Shapeshift] is a Bloodline Ability specific to Avians like Snowhawks and Nightingales. However, Nightingale [Shapeshift] is more specific than Snowhawks as Snowhawks can only shapeshift from human to hawk, in which their appearances are default. At the same time, Nightengales can change their hair, eyes, height, and much more.

  On top of awakening his Bloodline Ability, Drew also awakened his Otrio Attribute. There are seven Otrio Attributes: Fire, Ice, Water, Wind, Earth, Life, Light, and Dark, the strongest in power being Fire and the weakest being Wind. All Intergalactic Warriors awaken at least one Otrio Attribute. Drew had awakened two. Th

  Nevertheless, Drew was elated. Now that the amount of Otrio in him has doubled, Drew could cast Aegis without any setbacks. Before he became an F-Rank Genetic Warrior, Drew could only cast an Aegis that could last two seconds before shattering upon contact like glass. Now, how long could he cast it without it breaking? Well, he could only find out if he tried. Drew stuck out his arm and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he began to imagine his core, his newly formed core that was radiating with Otrio. He pictured its flow, like water, through his veins from his chest through his arm to his fingertips. He could feel every Kraso of Otrio. It was ready.

  [Aegis]

  Drew felt the green Wind Otrio particles gathering around him, clumping and spreading into a mass. With Drew's thoughts, they followed his will, spiraling into a green vortex. Soon, a thin panel the size of a full-length mirror created from Wind Otrio particles was created. Time: 3 seconds. Drew became ecstatic.

  "It only took half the time and doubled in size!"

  Glancing at the panel, he knew he had created a successful [Aegis]. Previously, it would take him six seconds to cast [Aegis], and that [Aegis] would be only half the size. Now, he could easily double the size and reduce the casting time by half.

  "Now," he mutters, "it's time to see what Subsidiary Ability I've awakened."

  A Subsidiary Ability is an ability within a General Ability. When someone awakens an Ability, a Subsidiary Ability is created, but only when one reaches a specific Otrio Checkpoint. An Otrio Checkpoint is a threshold within each Rank determined by the number of Krasos possessed. These thresholds are Low, Mid, and High. Drew is currently considered a Low F-Rank Intergalactic Warrior since he has 100 Krasos of Otrio, meaning that he can awaken one Subsidiary Ability for Aegis [Aegis], whether it be an increase in defense or mobility, it varies. Once he awakens his first Subsidiary Ability, he won't be able to awaken another one till he becomes a Mid F-Rank Intergalactic Warrior, which requires him to have 250 Krasos of Otrio.

  Drew attempted to make the shield thicker. That failed. Next, he tried to expand and reduce the size of the shield. That failed as well. Then, he tried to move the shield away from his body and back a few inches. That worked. It had been half a minute. Deactivating [Aegis], Drew checked the holographic interface. He noticed that the 'Genetic Ability' section had changed. Right under [Aegis], there was a 'Subsidiary Ability' category, and under that, a new line appeared.

  [Mobility]: You can move [Aegis] away from you. The range is about 5 meters.

  Drew was amazed at the efficiency of the program.

  "The program Uncle Winter installed sure is convenient."

  Looking at his data, Drew also noticed his [Otrio] number has gone down. It was 60. Drew was pleased.

  "So it takes 10 Krasos of Otrio for me to create [Aegis] and 30 to maintain for 30 seconds. Each second I leave the shield up, it'll cost me one Kraso. Not bad."

  While admiring his progress, Drew heard a knock on his door. Suddenly, a male voice could be heard from the other side. Drew recognized it right away.

  It was John.

  Drew hurriedly shoved everything on the floor into his closet and opened the door. John was wearing his spotless security uniform and a box in his hand. Another box. Drew laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

  "I've been getting a lot of packages today."

  "Well, I'm about to add one more to the pile," John responded. "As promised, here's the compensation package from Star."

  John handed the package to Drew. It was very light.

  "Inside are some materials to help you pass the entrance exam in five months. There may be a chance that I'll be your teacher."

  "Thank you," Drew replied, bowing to John in thanks.

  John put out his hand.

  "No worries. I hope to see you at Star."

  Drew forced a smile and shook his hand in return.

  "Alright."

  As John disappeared into the elevator, Drew shut the door behind him. This wasn't the time to idle around.

  Drew placed the package on the ground. Opening it, Drew found a tube of high-ranking medicine and seven booklets. Removing the booklets from the box, Drew noticed that one of them was a manual on reducing the side effects of gene medicine absorption while absorbing the most amount of Otrio from it. This was precisely what he needed. Flipping open the booklet, Drew noticed that the technique was similar to the meditation poses in yoga. Once more, Drew popped off the cap from the tube and swallowed the medicine in one swift gulp. Sitting on the floor cross-legged, Drew closed his eyes and imagined his Otrio Core as the effects of the medicine began to heat up his chest.

  He could see the color of his Core, a light green color with a speck of blue in the center and an infinite black space surrounding it. Drew began to circulate the Otrio in his Core, gathering the energy from the medicine and putting it into it like a magnet. A vortex of green and blue Otrio particles swirled. It was growing. His core began to grow. The vortex grew bigger and bigger as the heat in Drew's chest began to subside.

  Drew felt his senses growing stronger.

  The sound of insects buzzing outside the window. The chatter of people from the streets below. The honking of cars a block over. The smell of greasy street food. All of it. It was in his grasp, yet not. Suddenly, a burst of Otrio erupted inside him. His Core had condensed and was now the size of a golf ball, the vibrant green exterior masking the blue interior. He had recovered the original energy he used up and broken through to Mid-F Rank!

  Opening his eyes, Drew took a look at the clock.

  It was five.

  He had been in this meditative state for three hours and absorbed triple the amount of medicine than the first time. He felt refreshed; the power flowing through his body could be considered a river instead of a stream. Once more, he opened the holographic window on his communication device and saw a change in his Otrio. From the measly 50 Krasos a few hours ago to 250 Krasos, Drew had an increase of 200 Krasos and two Ranks.

  With no time to waste, Drew began experimenting with [Aegis] to figure out his second Subsidiary Ability and any improvements to his first one. Activating [Aegis], he realized that the casting time had decreased to two seconds. That's a whole second faster than last time. The casting cost even went down to five Krasos and he noticed that every second he left [Aegis] his Otrio consumption per second was 0.5 Krasos. No wonder why a Mid-F Rank Intergalactic Warrior could crush a Low F-Rank Intergalactic Warrior like an ant. The power gap was just too large. Drew began by moving [Aegis] using [Mobility], extending the range to 10 meters. Something else he noticed that he hadn't previously was that the speed at which he could move it was around 50 kph.

  Next, he tried changing the size. It took a bit of effort, but it worked! He could now shrink it to the size of an index card and expand it to its full-length mirror size. As a result, he could reduce the casting cost of [Aegis], which means he could use it more. Drew checked his window and noticed a new line had been added to the 'Subsidiary Ability' category.

  [Size Change] You can change the size of Aegis from 20cm to 200cm.

  Grabbing a small rubber ball from his coffee table, Drew oriented [Aegis] around and placed the ball on it like it was a platform. The ball did not move. Then, Drew moved the platform up and down at top speed. The ball flew up, bounced off the ceiling violently, and hit the lamp. It worked. Next, Drew expanded the [Aegis] and stepped on it. It worked. It didn't shatter. Then, he tried moving the platform around while he stood on it. It worked. It was almost like he was riding a hoverboard. After a few moments, he stepped off [Aegis] and dispelled it.

  Drew thought.

  Now that he'd broken through to F-Rank, it was time to write his resignation letter and head off to Uncle Ryhard's.