After the class, Kaelen decided to go to the Academy library.
He wanted to learn more about magic armors, how different people had engineered their ten parts and what unique abilities they had added to their magic armours to complement their fibers.
But as he sat among the ancient books, he began to feel hungry.
He usually didn't eat at this time, so he tried to ignore it, focusing instead on blueprints of some parts of magical armour.
He did not know that this wasn't a normal craving. The hunger didn't start in his stomach, it started in his crown.
The oily red and crystalline Redveil part in his crown was starving, and it wanted to eat.
His eyes kept drifting toward the reinforced steel casing of the ceiling and side walls.
Redveil was no longer whispering it was urging.
Every metallic object in the room felt like a most delicious food in the world to Kaelen.
Kaelen's fiber were vibrating beneath his skin, reaching out instinctively to graze against the desk's alloy frame.
Terrified by the sudden urge to literally bite into the furniture, Kaelen retreated to a private room and dialed to his mother.
"Mom, something is wrong," Kaelen panted, his round face pale with sweat.
"Redveil... . It feel like it is hungry. It's pointing to every metal object in the building."
Lyra's face appeared on the screen.
Her professional mask slipped, revealing pure maternal panic.
She knew the part added to the crown was a fragment of a Void Whale, but she hadn't expected the hunger to trigger so early.
"Stay calm, Kaelen. Do not touch any unrefined metal." she ordered.
"I need to call your grandfather immediately."
The scene shifted across the stars to the Veyron Fortress.
In a room made of dark dense stone, a man with shoulders as broad as a mountain stood looking into the abyss.
This was General Valerius Veyron, Kaelen's grandfather.
The holographic projector flickered to life.
Valerius turned, his gaze softening only slightly.
"Lyra, my daughter," his voice was like grinding tectonic plates.
"Is Alrin treating you properly? If that boy is giving you any trouble. I'll leave this post and teach him a lesson he won't forget."
"Father, Alrin is fine," Lyra managed a small smile despite the stress. "But we have a situation with your grandson."
Lyra explained the situation, the exponential growth of the fibers, two extra slots, and the hunger for metals.
She also told the truth of Redveil's origin. That it was a part of Void Whale neurons.
Valerius stayed silent, his gaze returning to the Void.
"The beings of that level are never satisfied, Lyra." Valerius commanded.
"They do not exist to be they exist to consume. If you have placed a fragment of a Void Whale into the boy's mind, you have given him a beast that must be fed. But listen to me. Feed it."
"Father, won't that make the fragment stronger?"
"Only if it digest itself." Valerius replied.
"Kaelen must use his fibers to assimilate refined metals. If it eats through the fibers, the metal becomes the cage that keeps the AI in check. Also the more metal he consumes, the stronger his ten part magic armor will be in the future."
"This is a blessing in disguise. It is a good way to build a stronger magic armour. Also, increase his diet more and add food to increase bone density and muscle mass. It will help his body grow taller and more powerful."
After the communication cut out, Valerius Veyron didn't move.
He stared into the darkness beyond the galaxy's edge.
He knew what the Federation believed, that the Void beings wanted to devour their galaxy.
But Valerius knew a deeper, darker secret.
The Veyron Ancestors, the ancient founders of their line were deep in the Void, far beyond the Aegis Fortress.
"They think the void beasts are the enemy," he whispered to the silence.
"They don't realize the void beings are just the scouts. Our ancestors are hiding the galaxy. There is a threat in the deep Void that makes even garment realm mage look like a ant."
He looked back at the holographic file of his chubby grandson.
"Eat well, Kaelen. You're going to need every ounce of that material when the things our ancestors are watching finally wake up."
Back at the Academy, Kaelen received a courier package. A box of High Grade Chrome Osmium Slugs.
Following his grandfather's guidance his mom told him, Kaelen sat cross legged and released his red fibers, wrapping them around the metal.
[ASSIMILATION COMMENCING] Redveil hummed, its voice finally turning from a growl back into a cool melody.
Kaelen felt a surge of warmth.
The metals were being broken down and assimilated.
As the metal vanished, the fat on his arms felt denser less like soft tissue and more like a sheathed weapon.
His bones began to hum with a new, heavy vibration as the nutrients in his body and metals worked together to reshape his foundation.