The Smart-Turf Training
The training field of Horizon Primary Academy was a vast expanse of adaptive "smart-turf" that shifted its density to match the weight and pressure of the students.
Under the bright, artificial suns of the Core, Kaelen stood with his classmates in neat, disciplined rows.
For a five-year-old in the Core Era, physical education was not about sports or games; it was about preparing the vessel.
The body was a biological circuit board, and the muscles were the insulation for the Ribbon.
Every step Kaelen took felt supported, the ground yielding just enough to provide the perfect balance between resistance and comfort.
The Professor's Command
Professor Andrew paced before the formation.
He was a man whose physical frame was as lean and corded as a high-tension wire, his presence radiating a sharp, disciplined amber aura that hummed with suppressed energy.
He projected his voice effortlessly across the field, his tone carrying the weight of absolute authority.
He explained that their Ribbon threads were currently anchored to their nervous systems, but he warned them that a nerve is static while a Ribbon must be fluid.
"If your body is stiff, your Ribbon is a cage," he declared, his eyes scanning the rows of children. "But if your body is a whip, your Ribbon becomes a weapon."
The Three Stages of Extension
When the command came to begin the Ribbon Extension, Kaelen moved into the stance instinctively.
The exercise was a series of rhythmic expansions of the joints designed to pull the internal Ribbon threads toward the extremities.
The Academy taught this in three distinct stages:
Stage I: Surface Tension – Feeling the Thread move from the spine to the fingertips.
Stage II: Elastic Resonance – The ability to hold the Thread at full extension while maintaining structural integrity.
Stage III: Perfect Fluidity – Where the body and the Thread move as a single, frictionless unit.
At this final stage, the Thread would grow rapidly because all biological resistance was removed.
The Mechanics of the Ribbon
Professor Andrew stood by a massive obsidian pillar at the edge of the training field.
He tapped a command into his wrist-unit, and a series of holographic displays flickered into existence, showing complex geometric equations.
"Power in the Core Era is not a mystery," he stated. "It is a calculation. To understand your potential, you must understand the math of your own biology."
He pointed to a diagram of a pulsing Thread. The strength of a student's Ribbon was determined by three factors: Length, Breadth, and the critical variable—Thickness.
Base Strength = Length (cm) * Breadth (micro meter) * The Multiplier Effect
"If your Thread is 10 centimeters long and 10 micrometers wide, your base strength is 100 kilograms," Andrew explained.
"But the true power lies in the thickness of the Thread, which acts as a force multiplier."
The scaling system was precise:
A thickness of 1 micrometer or less carried a multiplier of 1.
A thickness of 2 micrometers caused the multiplier to jump to 10.
This meant a student with superior density could exert ten times the force of a peer with the same Ribbon dimensions.
Andrew also mentioned about a deviation of 1% in total strength, a margin of error dictated by the stability of the user's nervous system.
The Testing Grounds
At the edge of the field, a series of high-tech weight training stations rose from the smart-turf.
These were gravity-induction plates that could precisely measure a student's maximum output.
"Check your body strength," Andrew commanded. "And check your stretching capability. For the next five years, our goal is to maximize these two variables: Ribbon stretching and weight resistance."
The standard for a Level 100 graduate was a 100cm length.
At a standard 10 micrometer thickness, a student could support 1000kg.
However, those like Kaelen, whose thickness exceeded the norm, were theoretically capable of holding 10000kg or more.
Fluidity and Fire
Kaelen stepped up to a resistance pillar.
He didn't grab the handles; he allowed his crimson thread to coil down his arms and interface with the machine's sensors.
He felt the Thread hum as it expanded.
While other children grunted and struggled, their faces turning red as they tried to keep their threads from snapping, Kaelen's crimson thread slid through his limbs like liquid fire.
It was effortless—a silent dance of energy beneath his skin.
Professor Andrew stopped his pacing and pointed him out to the class as the gold standard, noting that Kaelen was inviting the Ribbon to expand—the natural path to Level 100.
The Bio-Fuel of the Core
After the session, the students gathered in the shaded pavilion for Nutritional Education.
Andrew held up a translucent, glowing fruit called a Vitreous Pear, which shimmered with an inner light.
He explained that it contained stabilized minerals meant to strengthen the "sheath" of their Threads.
He told them bluntly that to reach Level 100, they had to consume their Vitreous Pears and their Iron-Leaf Spinach.
The UCC provided these resources as the architects of stability, ensuring every child reached their maximum potential.
The Natural Peak
Mina sat next to Kaelen, nibbling on her iron-leaf spinach while her silver thread pulsed with a melodic beat.
She leaned in and whispered that he made the exercise look too easy, noting that their classmate Vax looked ready to pop a vein trying to mimic his fluidity.
"How was your weekend at home?" Mina asked, eyes bright. "I spent my time with my mother thinking on what to wear for my next audition!"
Kaelen looked at her, curious. "My time was good. I spent time with my parents and talked on comms to my grandparent; it was okay. Does not your family want you to be an architect?"
Mina shrugged. "That is my family's hope for me—and of course, to become powerful—but my parents are open-minded. They said if I am studying and doing my things properly, I can do whatever I want."
Kaelen nodded, realizing that Earth had come far in this era. Society had evolved to a point where, despite the rigid hierarchy of power, people were truly open-minded about dreams and personal passions.
The Naming of a Star
After a moment, Mina hesitated, her silver thread flickering with a nervous rhythm. Kaelen looked at her and asked, "What now?"
"Can you tell me a name?" Mina asked tentatively. "One that would be good as a pseudonym or a stage name?"
Kaelen thought about it. "What about your parents' suggestions?"
"They thought of some," Mina admitted, "but they weren't very good."
Kaelen fell into a long silence. His mind drifted back to his previous life—to the woman who had been his wife. She was a writer who had cherished her pen name.
"How about Seraphine Vale?" he suggested.
Mina was stunned by the name. She repeated it under her breath, her eyes widening as she looked at Kaelen. "Do you... did you know I would ask? Did you create this just for me?"
Kaelen diverted his attention, looking toward the horizon. "No. I just thought it was a good name."
In truth, that name was a piece of his past. In his previous life, he hadn't been a good husband in terms of giving his time, but he had tried to help her and understand her as much as he could.
A wave of sadness hit him as he thought of his wife and daughter. However, he reminded himself that he had left them a great deal of wealth to ensure they were cared for. He pulled himself out of the trance quickly.
Defining the New Boundary
After talking with Mina, Kaelen was thinking about how to proceed in the future.
Kaelen felt no need to hide his talent or dim his light. The UCC was looking for leaders, and Kaelen was simply becoming what he was born to be.
He took a bite of the Vitreous Pear, which tasted like cold glass and honey, the minerals instantly humming through his system to reinforce his neural sheath.
Level 100 was five years away, a distant peak for most, but as his crimson thread vibrated with the perfect DNA of his ancestors, Kaelen knew he wouldn't just reach the goal.
He would define a new boundary.
The next five years wouldn't just be about reaching the target; they would be about seeing how much force a single human vessel could truly contain.