The cool, oxygen-rich air of the Academy felt different after the humid ocean of TOI-1452 b.
The students stood in the Great Training Hall, their bodies now vibrating with the integrated power of the Type-3 serum.
They were denser, faster, and more focused.
Professor Andrew walked to the center of the obsidian floor, his boots echoing with a heavy, rhythmic thud.
He didn't carry a weapon. He didn't wear a mecha suit.
He simply stood there, his presence filling the room like a physical weight.
The Lecture of the Three Pillars
"You've seen the Union's mechas," Andrew began, his eyes scanning the Level 30 students.
"You've seen the 50-foot giants that can crush a building. But let me tell you a truth about the Void: Machines fail."
He paced back and forth, his hands behind his back.
"There will come a time in deep space when your weapon is shattered. Your mecha's reactor will go dark."
"At that moment, you are stripped down to the only thing that truly belongs to you: Your Ribbons and your flesh."
He stopped and looked at Kaelen, then at Leo. "In this Academy, we follow the Trinity of Survival: Man, Magic, and Machine."
The Man (Primary Academy): The foundation. Physical combat and Ribbon control.
The Magic (Secondary Academy): Using Ribbons to create circuits in the air—casting high-density energy attacks.
The Machine (Higher Academy): Integrating with Dreadnoughts and Loom-class mechas.
"For the rest of this third year," Andrew's voice dropped to a low growl, "we focus on the Man. If there is a gap in your foundation here, you will die in the higher levels."
"Higher power doesn't make you safer; it makes you a bigger target. The higher your level, the more dangerous the risks."
The Hand-to-Hand Grind
"In the Secondary Academy, you will learn to manifest Armor—a second skin that is part of your own body."
"In the Higher Academy, you will pilot iron giants. But today? Today you learn to fight like a cornered beast."
The training was brutal. It wasn't about elegant forms; it was about efficiency.
They were taught how to use their Ribbons not just as whips, but as internal stabilizers to enhance the force of a punch.
"Control your Ribbons in this Thread Phase!" Andrew shouted as Leo and Sora sparred.
"If you can't control the thread, you will never control the Strand. And if you can't control the strand, your Armor will crush your own bones when you try to manifest it!"
The Veyron Advantage
Kaelen found himself paired with a senior student who was nearing Level 40.
The senior was fast, his threads thin and sharp. But Kaelen stood his ground.
He didn't need to be fast. He was a mountain.
Every time the senior struck, Kaelen used his Secondary Computing to predict the impact.
He moved his thick threads internally, creating a "cushion" of energy that absorbed the blow.
When Kaelen struck back, it was a slow, heavy palm thrust.
CRACK.
The air rippled.
The senior student was sent sliding ten feet across the floor, his own Ribbon shield flickering from the sheer physical pressure of Kaelen's "Man" phase power.
"Good, Veyron!" Andrew noted, a rare flash of approval in his eyes.
"You understand. The machine is the sword, the magic is the edge, but the man is the hand that swings it. Without the hand, the rest is just scrap metal."
The Unspoken Truth
The training session finally wound down, the heavy thrum of Ribbon energy in the hall replaced by the sound of heavy breathing and dripping sweat.
Mina sat next to Kaelen, her silver ribbons retreating back into her skin, leaving only a faint glow beneath her surface.
She turned to him, her eyes searching his face with an intensity that made his Level 148 heart rate climb even higher.
"Kaelen," she said softly, her voice barely audible over the chatter of the other students.
"What really happened at the resort? I saw you at the railing. The way that... thing... looked at you before it left."
Kaelen hesitated. He looked at his hands, where the crimson threads of his Level 30 foundation pulsed with a steady, metallic heat.
He didn't want to lie to her, but the truth about Redveil—a void whale living in his mind—was a burden he wasn't ready to share.
If she knew he was carrying a "Void whale" that could consume a planet, she would never look at him the same way again.
"I think..." Kaelen began, choosing his words carefully.
"I think I just have a strange way of interacting with animals. My cultivation... it has a specific frequency."
"When I released my energy, I wasn't attacking it. I was just trying to show it that I wasn't a threat. It felt like... a connection."
Mina watched him for a long moment, the silver light in her eyes flickering.
"Like an animal whisperer?" she asked, a small, relieved giggle escaping her. "A mountain that talks to dinosaurs?"
Kaelen let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and gave her a small, awkward nod.
"Something like that," he lied.
It was a half-truth, but it was enough to keep the worry from her face.
He didn't tell her that Redveil had mimicked a Void Whale, or that the dinosaur hadn't just left—it had retreated in submission to a higher predator.
The Foundation of the Man
Professor Andrew's voice cut through the hall once more, ending their private moment.
"Day one is over! Recover. Sleep. Integrate the serum."
"Tomorrow, we move from sparring to Gravity Resistance."
"If your 'Man' phase can't handle the weight of your own potential, the 'Magic' and 'Machine' will never happen."
As Kaelen walked out of the hall, he felt the Star-Silver in his marrow vibrating in agreement.
He was a "Large solid mountain" in the making, and the foundation he was building now would eventually support the heaviest armor the Federation had ever seen.
He was already thinking ahead to the Secondary Academy, where he would finally be allowed to weave his Armor.
With his thread thickness, he knew his Armor wouldn't just be a "second skin"—it would be a walking fortress.
But for now, he had to master the "Man."