Author’s notes:

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Abigail led the way through the Academy, explaining various things as they went. First off, the entire property was surrounded by a circular wall around ten to fifteen feet high and the only, official, entrance was a large iron-wrought gate. The radius from the main building to the gate was approximately 4 to 5 miles. I asked why they had a wall that could probably be crossed easily, even if were a lot higher. In response, she said that the wall and gate were merely for show. In reality, the campus was surrounded by a powerful barrier created by Loki himself and the walls were only to indicate the boundary of the barrier. It was a subtle warning to any who attempted to come in uninvited.

In fact, other than the students and staff, few were granted access through the barrier. Roland was one of those few. Although, now that he was an instructor here, he had access anyway. The main building itself had a beautiful castle-like design with long windows in each class. Through the windows, you would see an arrangement of trees that students would pass by on their way into the building.

The trees were a variant of cherry-blossom trees that Loki had taken a liking to on one of the planets under his pantheon’s jurisdiction. At a certain time of year the trees’ leaves would turn a deep, vibrant shade of pink. These trees, however, bloomed year-round. Their leaves were a perpetual lovely shade of pink and the view of watching loose leaves flutter in the winds as the descended to the ground was a beautiful sight. The students themselves were, as Loki said, children of gods or other powerful beings.

They were all fairly young. Roland probably knew the parents of some of the students. It was odd, being younger than most of his soon-to-be protégés. Many of the powerful beings and races were long lived. A god’s life is nearly infinite. A vampire’s, demon’s, or an Elf’s life were similarly long. An elf not yet over three hundred years of age would be fairly young among their kind.

That holds true for the other long lived races as well.

Abigail said very few of the students were over a thousand years in age and most only in their hundredth year. After she led me through the campus, she took me to a fairly large house which was located only ten minutes away from the main building. She said it would be my home for as long as I stayed. It apparently used to be an old dormitory but was abandoned for some time as the student population quickly grew.

They probably didn’t expect to have so many students. It had plenty of room, a well-stocked kitchen and basically everything I would need. It would probably feel a bit uncomfortable at first. It was a big house and I was used to others being around me. Having nothing better to do at the moment, he and Abigail talked for a bit. He found that she was good company.

She was pleasant to listen to, the type of person who made you feel at ease simply by being around them. She had a calming aura of thoughtful gentleness that was rarely found. It was hard imagining her as the one who kept the Academy running. She was definitely not normal but Roland cold not detect what she was. It was obvious she was not human, or at least not fully, but that was all he could gleam from their short time together.

Roland had met succubi that had the same calming aura they used to keep prey uner control, but she didnt have that irressitable aire of seduction that accompanied them.

So that was ruled out.

Not that it was a bad thing he didnt know what she was. He liked the challenge. In fact he would likely make a game of guessing what she was. Not that he would ever tell her of this little game.

In any case, it was soon getting dark out, and she left to her own home. Before she left, she gave me the student foster for the classes he would be instructing.

She warned that Loki pretty much gave him the classes with the most problem children. Roland was confident in his ability to handle anything that was thrown at him, but when you are supposed to be teaching young gods and other similarly powerful beings, it is time to be a bit concerned on what exactly the term “problem children” meant.

Not that he would stress about it. If they caused trouble, he would just discipline them until they calmed down.

He only glanced at the names but only one really stuck to him.

Fenris.

It was a name he was sure he heard before, but for the life of him he could not remember where. He was reasonably sure it hailed from the Aesir pantheon but other than that. . .

Roland vaguely recalled a story of a rather monsterous wolf or something along those lines, but that was all. Or, wait, was the name im thinking of Fenrir? But it is clearly written as Fenris on the paper. . .

And why did he suddenly think of Loki as he read the name?

Thinking no more of the subject, he wandered his new home and found a comfy looking room with a nice, soft bed. He took off his clothes and took a short shower in the bathroom to the side He was concerned about those kids he was summoned by, but during their talk Abigail told him Loki would handle them and he could visit them later. He wanted to be there when Loki questioned them, which was probably happening around now, but he trusted him to explain the situation to them and ensure they were cared for.

They were attacked by Immortals, so other than the black haired women who saw him kill them, the other three would probably not have been expecting to live. But he, knowing they were in good hands, simply pushed those thoughts away for now and went to sleep

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In the morning there were some students beginning the short walk from the dormitories to the main building. most would not be up at this time, but they were the ones who were the most powerful out of the student body, the ones chosen to help in governing the school and keep up relations with the other powers in the world. as such, the responsibilities they had required them to get up earlier in the day compared to the others. They were, for lack of a better word, the Student Council.

As they walked, they all noticed a person they had never seen before seemingly headed for Headmaster Loki’s office.

There were different paths that led to the main building where they we going and the Headmaster’s office where the stranger was headed, so they could assume his destination at a glance.

The man caught their attention because they knew that no one other than the staff had the authority to enter the barrier. On rare occasions a guest would have permission to enter, but they were all very powerful and important people with high standing.

What’s more, though they could not sense any aura from him, the sense of power they felt was clearly stronger than those who came before.

They didn’t know why, but almost by instinct they felt themselves draw just a tiny bit close to the man, as if being drawn in by some unknowable force, some magnetic pull that even they, powerful in their own right, could not resist.

Unknowingly, the image of his figure left a deep impression on them.

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Roland woke up early in the morning and made a light breakfast for himself. After he ate he got dressed and headed to Loki’s office to see what he found out from the kids. Once he did that, it was time to pay them a personal visit.

The air outside was cold, but refreshing. He walked the path leading to Loki’s office and noticed a group of students staring at him from afar. He didn’t run into any of the students yesterday since they were apparently still in class. There were some by that pond he saw at Loki’s office but by the time he was led there by Abigail they had already left.

He assumed there were also students in that library he saw but he didn’t go in there. Other than the looks they gave him, they didn’t try interacting with him. They may have been wary of newcomers.

Although the races they hailed from were immensely powerful, they were still relatively young and their own power was insufficient to survive out in the real world. That was probably why Loki wanted them to get stronger. The Higher Planes that the powerful races lived was full of numerous unknowable dangers and only some places were truly safe.

Even if they came from powerful clans or families, in the Higher Planes personal power was an absolute necessity.

There were simply too many other strong people out there who could kill them with a single strike. Even the pantheons of gods were only some of the forces that existed. There were numerous other clans and individuals who held immeasurable power. Knowing that, it was understandable if the students were on guard against him. Although they didn’t really seem hostile…

He soon reached his destination. Not even bothering to knock, he let himself in.

Loki sat on the same chair as yesterday.

“Oh, Roland. I didn’t expect you to visit so early.”

“Well, I’ve always been an early riser. Anyway, what did you learn from the four?” he cut straight to the point.

Loki gave a small shrug, “There have been some complications. I think its best you see them for yourself”

And so the two made their way towards the nurse’s room. When they arrived the older looking boy was pacing restlessly from one side of the room to the other. The younger one wore a worried expression while the two girls were talking amongst themselves quietly in a corner.

They were quite beautiful, both of them. The black haired one gave off a magnetic allure. Her midnight colored tresses and fair skin created a pleasing contrast, and the twin peaks at her chest together with her slim waist would stir lust in anyone, be it man or women. Yet the thing that really caught a person’s attention was her eyes. They were a clear, deep golden color that swallowed you in.

Her sister had magnificent blood-red hair. Coupled with her flawless, jade-like skin and supple pink lips, she would easily capture the heart of any man. Her figure, while not as thought-provoking as her sister’s, was still quite well-endowed. Roland had seen women whose beauty could bring ruin to nations, and these two, once they were a bit older and more mature, would likely be able to do the same.

The boys were lightly golden-haired, with delicate features. They had dark green eyes and slightly tanned skin that gave a healthy shine. They reminded him of Loki's brother Thor, without the arrogance. They would be quite popular with women in the future

Somehow . . . he felt something was definitely off but couldn’t explain it.

“How long do you intend on keeping us here?” The older boy demanded once the two entered the room.

“Easy, boy. After the tantrum you threw yesterday I am really not in the mood to deal with you~" He smiled. Roland knew how unsettled others could get after seeing it. "Go to your brother and shut up.” Loki sounded a bit cross.

Roland wondered what exactly happened last night to get even his mood to sour. Usually he gave off an air of frivolity to others when he wasn’t around.

Snorting with disdain, the boy had no intentions to back off until the younger one came. After a few words between the two, he relented.

“Hey, Lilith, tell Roland here what you said yesterday. What happened to you?”

Eyeing me with a odd glint in her eyes, she slowly answered.

“I . . . don’t remember. Pretty much everything before now is missing. Same for the others. We talked about it even after you left and up until a certain time it’s like the memories were just cut off. The only thing we can remember was a strange hall. There was a strong light and a huge circle at our feet. Then some weird men showed up. And even then it’s a blur. I remember Reina with a. . . a sword. . . sticking out of her chest. The next thing I knew, you" She looked at Roland. "Appeared out of nowhere and healed her, then killed the men.” She had an uneasy look on her face but didn’t appear to be lying.

Loki looked at me. “Tell me you don’t find this strange. Go on, tell me.”

He couldn’t. From what she said, they have…amnesia? All of them? No, ridiculous.

This can’t just be a coincidence. The timing was just too perfect.

He wondered, could the curses have caused this? It wasn’t impossible, there were cases of similar instances.

Loki sighed. “Seriously, how annoying. Although, this turn of events is fairly interesting as well. Ah, I already contacted the girls' adoptive parents. Also, I’m not sure how they found out about this, but no less than an hour ago I received a message from their other family too. They demanded I send the girls to them at once. I told them they can go get bent over a fence by their grandfathers, a sentiment that for some odd reason they found quite rude. Anyway, they are apparently prepared to take them back by force.”

Loki gave a short laugh. “I dare them to get past my barrier.”

“Oh? I wonder what they would want them back for. No matter. About their adoptive parents, did they know what happened to them? Also, I assume you questioned those two.” Roland pointed to the boys, “and got in touch with their families as well?”

“For the aoptive family, they didn’t know anything about their disappearance. I told them they could come to the Academy to check on them and I sent some people to fetch them. They will be here in around three days or so. As for the little boy and his pet idiot, they’re orphans. All I got out of them was that they ran away from the place that raised them.”

The four others in the room had a slightly dazed look on their faces as they watched us talk about them.

“For now I will have them taken to your place.”

“That’s fine. The house is big enough and there are spare rooms I'll probably never use anyway.”

Loki had a displeased expression on his face, seemingly disappointed.

“What, that’s it?”

“Oh? What do you mean?”

“Well, the boys aside, are you really fine having two women in the house you are going to be living at from now on? I don’t really have much space to put them in on such short notice, you know? The students here don’t really have full control of their abilities and accidents happen daily. Lilith here doesn’t seem too weak so she might survive, but even then it would be quite dangerous. Simply put, they could be with you for a while. With you track record with women, what would happen if their teenage hormones kicked in and one of them tried to assault you in your sleep?”

Out of the corner of my eye Roland saw the two girls’ faces turn slightly red, looking a bit mortified and not quite believing their ears..

“I doubt they could even get within five feet of my door in the first place.” Roland replied dryly.

“Haha, well whatever. As your friend, even if that did happen I could only turn a blind eye, right? You know, there are a lot~ of beauties here too. And the man to woman ration is like 1:2! How about the two of us go flower picking like the old days? ”

Roland snoted in distaste. " Please, you know I wasnt exactly in my right mind then. And why do you care about the women here anyway? I thought you liked older women"

"Ridiculous. A beauty is a beauty. As a man, how can i have any one particular preference? Variety is a must! Have i taught you nothing?"

"I dont think anyone should learn from you. It isnt exactly like you have some profound wisdom to impart or anything."

"How mean. Im a god, you know? My wisdom cannot be comprehended by a mere mortal such as yourself."

"Thank the Heavens for that."

" Ah, we got off topic. What were we talking about? Ah, that's right! So, what do you say? I know some particularly charming beauties at the school. If you want, i could show some to you." He offered generously.

Roland smiled. Loki was joking of course. Or at least, he thought so.

“No, I would actually appreciate it if you didn’t. Im an instructor here now, you know. I dont like complications so I think Its best not to.”

Roland wasn't particularly interested in such things anymore. Or rather, he himself didnt seek it as much as he once did.

“Sure, you say that now~ Well, it isnt like this place discourages such things. Afterall, it's not exactly like the students here are young, naive teens."

The four others in the room had strange expressions on their faces. Didnt those two completely forget about them, they thought.

"But enough of all that. You have to get ready to meet your first class, don’t you?”

“What, today? I just barely got to this world”

Roland at least wanted to explore a bit.

“True, but there’s no time like the present right? I trust you can find the way yourself. While you do that I will get these four settled.”

“Ah, before that, I would like to talk with them for a bit.”

“Yes, yes, alright, if you must. I’ll give you guys a moment.” Saying that, he strolled out of the room.

There was a small silence in the air. I saw the four studying me openly. The older boy seemed to give me an approving nod of acknowledgement while his brother’s was a bit more curious and wary. The girl, Lilith, was similar. Although hers was filled with a bit of admiration, which, I suppose was understandable after what she saw me do.

The fight was boring and not fun at all, but to someone like her who was far weaker than an Immortal, that reaction was normal. Her sister had a strange look. I noticed it from the moment I walked in, but her gaze had not left me once since I entered.

" Well, as i'm sure you have guessed, I'm the person who Reina here called right before those Immortals decided to show up. Which was very lucky for you, or else you wouldn't be alive right now. After this little chat of ours, you will all be taken to my recently acquired home near here. So, any questions?"

The older boy spoke up.

"I'm Saren. I heard the story from Lilith, but you're the one who stopped the Immortals, yes?"

“I killed them, yes." He said casually. Though, to him something like that wasnt noteworthy.

“Amazing…" the younger one whispered.

“Not really. Immortals aren't actually that strong. If you want, I can teach you to do the same."

The two boys were stunned. “You can teach us?!"

" Hmm? Of course. Something like that is easily done, you know? But not yet. By the way, Saren, what did you do to annoy Loki like that? It isn't easy to upset a God"

He seemed uneasy. " I don't want to talk about it. Wait…a god? You mean, that man is really Loki Jotunheim of the Aesir pantheon?" He seemed a bit suspicious as he asked.

“Indeed. Do the inhabitants of this planet know the existence of the Pantheons?"

It was Lilith who answered. “Everyone knows about them. The core members of the large pantheons are very well known. They're some of the most powerful gods, after all. I thought he was that Loki, but to know it's really him… I never thought any of us would ever meet a person like that. And you, you seem to be so close to each other. Exactly who are you?"

She had a guarded expression. Wary.

“A friend." Explaining further would be a pain. " Ah, we got off topic. Anyway, the bottom line is that since Reina called for me, and I have nothing better to do, I came here to see if anything interesting was happening. Ah, dont misunderstand, im fully prepared to help out." he assured them.

"The ones who placed those curses on you--curses whose nature I plan to study more in depth later--should be powerful gods. Probably pretty powerful ones too." He shrugged, unconcerned. " But worry not, since you all are now under my protection, you can just relax. There aren't many people who could harm you with me here.." He said confidently.

To him, if he could not even protect four people, he might as well just go run off and die. He wouldn't back down since he have already decided to go through with protecting them. Besides, if anyone tried to harm them…

Well, there are many things worse than death.

Hearing his words, the four seemed unconsciously relieved. It was evident in their faces. Their memory of the danger they were up against were apparently gone, but it looked as if they still had some kind of pent up tension.

However, Lilith, Saren and James didnt know how much stock to put in a man who seemed to treat the situation so casually. He didnt seem all that concerned about it.

He looked to Reina, “And you, since you called me here, you have to accept the consequences. The current you is much too weak. If your compatibility with me is so high, it is unacceptable to be so weak. From now on I will drill everything I know into your body and if you can't face an army of Immortals within half a year I'm going to give you a very severe punishment, understand?"

Reina looked a bit dazed, not knowing what to say but appeared to rather like the idea of getting stronger.

Lilith, on the other hand, glared at Roland. “Hold on, that's too insane! Reina can't even practice past the first stage of the martial way or perform simple magic! An army of Immortals?! That, that's just suicidal! I wont let you --"

Roland cut her off.

"Don't worry, i'm not unreasonable. It would be enough if she could fight a few hundred. Besides, I said this before, but her compatibility with me is quite high. I’m a person with quite a bit of power, you know. It's impossible for her to not become strong when she has such a high compatibility with me. Beside, there are many ways to get stronger outside the martial way and I think she just needs someone who can help her unlock her potential." He completely waved off her worries.

Lilith, hearing him say so, could only let out a helpless sigh.

“Oh, and next time don't show signs that what Loki says affects you, it only encourages him." He left after telling them that.

The conversation was brief, but they would have chances to talk more later.

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He found his first class pretty easily. There were a mix of young gods and goddesses with some other races mixed in like vampires or high ranking demon clan races. There were others he wasn’t quite sure of, but that was about it.

Loki said this was supposed to be a class with a lot of problem children, and it seemed he was right. Although the majority were okay, a few were….troublesome.

They were quite uncooperative at first. So he gave them a light beating in response.

They ended up unconscious after a few gentle slaps to the head.

If he did that every time they annoyed him or caused a disruption, they would learn to behave eventually.

He looked to the other kids gathered here. They seemed a bit astonished and, it had to be said, quite surprised. Roland doubted the other teachers would have done what he just did.

They were at the training grounds he saw yesterday, the pond to the far side creating a nice view.

Upon their arrival, they all looked a bit curious. It wasn't hard to understand why. He gave them a short introduction of himself and had them do the same.

He didn't hear the name Fenris mentioned, but did hear the name of Zues's son. Michael.

Roland thought about the other Michael he knew. Loki was right that this one seemed bit weak compared to the battle freak they knew of.

As Loki said, he seemed frail, but true to his lineage Roland felt a great strength from his slender frame similar to his brother's.

Hercules was not full god, but he had great control over his abilities. In contrast, Michael seemed to have stronger innate abilities but lacked control over them.

The same was true for everyone else in the class. It was one of the drawbacks of being born with great strength. You had stronger powers but lack the training and experience to use them properly.

There were some students who skipped class. They were the other problem children, most likely. He had them pair up and use any weapon they were comfortable with to duel each other.

Their attacks were, fast, sharp and graceful. But utterly useless. Their strikes lacked a soul. It was like moving your arms and legs without knowing how or why your body was able to accomplish such things.

Their regular attcks were alright, but there were other attacks that requires more than what they showed. The skill with the "battle techniques" they used was what he was talking about.

To explain battle techniques were like special skills that displayed certain powers to increase combat ability. There were other types of "techniques" but he wouldnt get into the right now.

It was a fundamental problem with their ability to comprehend the said battle skills they used and execute them to its fullest potential.

For something like this, you could either try to start from scratch and have them re-learn everything in a way that increases their understanding of the skills they are using, or let them build up a lot of experience with nonstop combat.

Battle techniques were built up of multiple levels of understanding, and usually one had to increase their

comprehension of each level to raise the power of the techniques.

But it was also more than that. For each level that was understood, the technique would evolve, becoming more efficient and granting other benefits. Battle techniques almost all have certain affinities with elements in nature, meaning you could evolve the techniques in different ways.

A technique would not advance to the next level if your understanding of the current level stayed the same. But once the technique reached its peak, it would take on a portion of the user’s essence, making it unique.

It was only then that the attack would have a “soul".

Comprehension was critical, and not everyone had a high comprehension ability.

However, that was only the usual method. Another way was to forcefully break through each level by sheer willpower and combat experience. It was risky though.

Nonstop battle was dangerous on the body and even if you make a breakthrough the foundation could end up being weak, which had a great effect on the power output.

So the only way Roland could think of to combine the best of both methods was to find the ideal environment for training their individual techniques. A place that provided both nonstop fighting for experience and at the same time would increase their understanding of the technique itself.

To do that he would have to analyze the concept behind each of their battle techniques. Since his level of comprehension was so high, he didn’t even need to practice the technique itself to fully understand the core of them. A few glances over the course of a few days would be enough.

After that, once he understood the core of each of their techniques, he would have to find the perfect environment to help them cultivate a better understanding of them.

See, you can find many hints of the core concept of basically any type of technique you are trying to comprehend within nature. For example, if you are a warrior who has a spear technique that is aligned with the element of lightning, then there are many, many ways you can evolve the skill.

You could use your power to create bolts of lightning shoot from the spear’s tip, or go a different route to generate shock-waves that can push targets over, repulsed them away, shatter them, or even cause earthquakes by shaking the ground or dislodging underground tectonic plates, thus causing earthquakes.

Of course, such power would only be achievable once the final level of the technique was grasped, but the point is that all battle techniques have many different paths they could take and different evolutions to discover.

Since Roland could understand the very core of battle techniques, he is not, in theory, limited to only one path, unlike others. But he chose not to do so, as he thought it would be too cheat-like. No, he pursued the pure path of the sword. He rarely used battle techniques himself.

Anyway, once he found them the perfect environment for their respective battle techniques, they would show great promise. He was a bit disappointed in them though.

Surely their parents would have taught them the correct way to utilize the techniques, right? At least Zeus should have taught Michael a few things. Knowing him, he doubted he could stand having a son of his be weak. Maybe they wanted them to find their own way?

But Roland didnt know the current situation, so perhaps there was an explanation for it. Besides, to him, many powerful beings could be considered weak.