Edwin preformed well in most of his classes except the hands-on lessons in craftsmanship such as carpentry, metal work and sculpting; art in general was not his strong point. He could speak Adamic, Albionic and Angelic well; he did moderately well in the various branches of mathematics. Geography, stellar cartography and planetology were his favorite subjects. Not surprisingly given those interests, Edwin had a keen sense of direction; he rarely got lost.

At age thirteen he was accepted as a junior cadet in the Rangers, taking his training in a specialized direction. Grand Master Toa (for reasons unknown to Edwin, but obvious to Toa) had become his personal teacher; the unexpected privilege made him very glad. Being a quiet Protector from a troubled background, he made few friends even among the other Rangers.

The Ranger who approached Edwin first was Gilbert Cainspear, a tall Black Tribe engineer who was studying the possibility of space flight. Gilbert already had a small pool of friends (who called him “Gilly”), so instead of going out and getting his own group, Edwin simply allowed Gilbert’s friends to become his own. Even that took an introduction by Gilly to his fellow Rangers, who also doubled as musicians. This was rather strange at first to Edwin who thought a Ranger was a Ranger and a Starbard was a Starbard and couldn’t understand how one person could be both.

Technically, Edwin was correct, and Gilly soon set him straight on the matter. While every Starbard among Lightchildren was a musician, not every musician among Lightchildren was a Starbard. Likewise, while every Starbard was trained in the use of a Starblade to at least Level One competency, and while some few Starbards could match any Ranger in Blademastery, those few could only have honorary ranks among the Rangers (and never higher than Captain). What set a Starbard apart was his mastery of the melodic recitation of the Codex to harp or lyre accompaniment; that mastery formed the heart and core of his musicianship, and indeed of his whole approach to the Codex. Chris Alan Starbright would become one of the best cantors of the Codex ever, not surprising since the talent ran in the Starbright Family; that talent was a major reason why that Family was entrusted with the Imprimatur. But that specific talent was not Edwin’s specific talent, nor did Edwin ever gain the enthusiasm for the simple, ancient music that Chris Alan would gain.