Author's notes: Yeah, im going to try being more descriptive. Thats why in this chapter i gave more details regarding where they live. This is the image of it i always had in my mind, and i realized recently that i never really described it much.

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Although Roland often refered to it as a dormitory or house, it was actually more like a mansion. The students here held high social status since their families could be considered nobility, even in the Higher Planes. For that reason, the place that they were to live in obviously could not be ordinary.

The house had six levels, with a cobblestone path leading the way to the front door. The first level was below ground and held a currently empty wine celler. Roland wasnt quite sure why a wine celler was needed, but it was there.

The second level was quite large. In the center there was a foyer with a grand staircase that led to the upper rooms where Roland and the rest lived. The floor held multiple rooms, such as a Sun room which overlooked a small garden on the lower lawn that grew herbs to be used in the Kitchen, which was also located on the second floor.

There was also a Music room with many unused instruments lying about. Last there was a Sitting room, or rather, the Living room where Roland had conversed with the brothers previously. The living room had a large fireplace and various pieces of furniture covered in velvet.

The third, fourth and fifth floors were lined with large bedrooms, each one holding their own rather luxurious bathrooms and furnishing while the sixth floor held a library and study. But it didnt hold all that many books, and none that had records of the planet itself which is why Roland went to the school library.

One could almost smell the decadence and opulance the entire stucture exuded.

Roland felt it was a bit too much, honestly. Well, not that he was one to cast judgements. Once upon a time, he owned several much larger and magnificent mansions. He gave them up once he left with Loki though.

The back of the place was covered with emerald green grass and was a perfect place to spar. That was where the three, Roland, Sren and James, were currently headed.

The brothers held one ordinary sword each. The previous Etherium swords were currently resting safely in their rooms.

Roland heard some heavy breathing.

As he and the others got to their destination, Lilith was wielding a spear and fighting against imaginary enemies.

Roland observed her.

Lilith was a truly beautiful woman, he had to admit. That hourglass figure alone was already quite enticing. But Roland wasnt the type to be stirred by a woman for merely that alone. No, he saw more than that in her. She had a sort of natural grace and magnetism about her that was hard to resist.

Those luminous golden eyes and glossy black hair coupled with that inherent grace and pride was an intoxicating combo. But what really drew him was her character. That strong look in her eyes, that confidence and will, displayed her inner strength for all to see. She seemed a very straightforward person. She didnt hide her opinions of others behind false smiles and Roland appreciated that.

He had seen many people who sought power and status. They were the type to manipulate and offer their friendships at the drop of a hat only to stab you in the back when it was convenient. Roland had experienced such in his current life, the feeling of somone trying to befriend him merely for his talent and strength. He despised such people at first, and then he simply grew indifferent. He could never like people such as them, and had only turned a blind eye to their attempts to gain his favor.

So Roland was pleased to see that Lilith was not such a person. That straightforwardness and lack of guile was what made him have a good impression of her. Perhaps she didnt say what she felt, but her expression said it all.

She currerntly wore a close-fitting pair of clothes that were made of a flexible material made for ease of movement.

The students, Roland remembered, all wore the same type of clothing during his class periods.

Right now the material did a good job of accentuating her curves in an appealing manner. Lilith was completly lost in the imaginary battle, striking out with the spear fluidly. A faint smell of sweat reached him. It wasnt exactly unpleasant.

He watched her execute various attacks and movements. She had a firm grasp on spear techniques. Though she was far from mastery, she seemed to have an innate talent for the spear. But she held it like it was merely an extension of herself rather than simply a part of her body. It was a subtle difference, but an important one. As long as one considered themselves a seperate existence from their weapon, they could never reach the pinnacle of skill in it.

Still, she was quite talented even so. From his estimate, she wasnt far from acquiring the level of being one with the spear. Roland still believed she was more suited for magic, yet from what he saw she could likely combine the two talents, as some chose to do. Her power would definitely increase if she was taught properly.

It seemed she was quite lost in the rhythm of the battlefield currently going on in her head and didnt notice their arrival at all. Roland cleared his throat, announcing their presence.

Lilith was startled and throw the spear in the direction of the sound, as if percieving some threat.

The spear made a sharp noise as it cut through the air and was clearly making its way toward Roland, but the weight of the weapon must have been off-balance a bit because the trajectory slightly changed mid-flight, aiming straight at James' head.

Lilith made a small "ah" sound as she watch the spear fly towards it target.

Roland casually raised his hand, catching the spear by it's tip before it could smash into the boy's head. James blinked, stunned.

"Good form, but let's try not to decapitate someone next time, shall we?" Roland spoke mildly

Lilith ran over toward the three. " Sorry, I didnt see you there" She apologised quickly. She let out a small sigh, relieved she didnt just become a murderer. " So, can I have my spear back now?"

Roland graciously handed it over.

She looked towards james. "Are you okay?" she asked

James frowned, seeming not to hear her. "I think my life just flashed before my eyes." he mumbled

Lilith and Roland looked at him. Lilith shrugged, unconcerned.

" Yeah, having a near-death experience will do that to a guy." Roland said, patting him a pat on the back.

"You two dont seem very concerned about this . . . " Saren commented. He looked at his brother, checking him to make sure he was really alright.

"Well, as long as I didnt kill him I see no reason to dwell on it." To Lilith, the matter was already settled. After all, no one was hurt.

Saren and James were a bit surprised. They didnt think Lilith could sound so uncaring about something like this. Though, they didnt know her long in the first place. At least not that they can remember.

Roland raised an eyebrow at her words. He didnt think she would sound so calm about it. His respect for her rose a bit. He, too, wasnt one to make a big deal out of something that hadnt even happened.

"Well, dont worry about it too much, James. She was aiming for me anyway." Roland assured them.

"In my defence , i wasnt aiming for anyone. You three shouldnt have snuck up on me like that." She said, annoyed.

"If you weren't so busy fighting imaginary enemies, you would have heard us coming. " Saren told her. He was a bit angry. If Roland hadn't been there, wouldnt his brother's brains be scattered all over the ground by now?

"Why are you guys here anyway?"

" Before that, can we go back to how you almost killed my brother?"

Lilith looked at him strangely. "Why? I said sorry, didnt I?" She truly didnt see what the problem was.

If Reina had been there she would have told her sister to apologise more sincerly. Lilith always had trouble connecting with others. She just wasnt a people person.

Lilith was, for the most part, normal. However, there were some cases, like now, where she lacked a bit of common sense. Lilith herself didnt really seem to realize the fact though.

"Well, moving on, I brought them to spar for a bit."

Lilith, upon hearing him, hesitated. She wanted to ask if she could join in too. After all, she clearly remembered how he handled those Immortals like they were a group of kittens, if nothing else. Having the chance to learn from a person that powerful wasnt something that came often.

But there was a difference in respecting a person's strength and trusting them. Lilith was suspicious over why somone like him would bother with helping the four of them. He didnt really give a believable reason for it. He didnt seem to take many things seriously, and looked like the type of person who followed his whims. Who was to say he would still want to help them a week, or even a day from now?

He seemed reliable, but she couldnt put her trust in that frivolous personality of his. She couldnt bring herself to have the faith in him that her sister somehow did.

Which is another thing she was suspicious of. She didnt get how her sister seemed so trusting of him in the first place. They hadnt known each other for very long at all. They didnt even talk much. But she still seemed able to be at ease around him somehow.

Lilith didnt know if she should ask to join or not. One one hand she didnt want to waste the chance, and on the other she didnt trust him and so didnt know if she was right to ask.

Fortunately Roland saw her dilemma.

"Oh, right, Would you like to participate as well? I think you should be able to learn a thing or two."

Lilith's expression cleared instantly. " Well, i suppose i could." She said airily. Her eyes brightened.

"Right. Well then. Since it pretty dark out, I'll give us a bit of light." He wove a spell, conjuring a yellow ball of light and threw it up into the air, Illuminating verything within thirty feet as if it were day. The other three were inwardly surprised. They didnt exactly understand how Roland created his spells so fast or with such versatility. " That's better. Now, rather than simple sparring, lets treat this more like a lesson for a bit, shall we? Tell me, do you know about Laws?" He asked.

The brothers shook their heads. Lilith was the one who spoke out, " Laws . . . You mean like Elemental Laws?" Before she and Reina were taken in by their adoptive family, the old experts of their clan had told her a bit about Laws, but she couldnt understand exactly what they were. She was young at the time and even if she wasnt, she was told that Laws were not something that could be easily understood.

Roland nodded, pleased

" Exactly. Those are a good example, actually. Elemental Laws are, in essence, all the forces of nature in this or any world. Lighning, fire, wind, water, earth, all these are Elemental Laws. Well, small parts of them anyway. Like pieces of a puzzle. They are all considered a part of Elemental Laws. How to explain this simply. . . " Roland frowned. " Think of a mage. Mages can control elements. They can have affinities for certain elements and that makes it easier to control them. But there is a difference in being able to control an element and being able to control a Elemental Law. Mages can control elements, yes, but they have only scratched the very surface. If one fully mastered the Elemental Law of Fire, all types of flames in that world would be under their control."

The three listended in rapt attention. To the brothers, this was a new and interesting concept. Lilith, for her part, knew a bit but the old experts of her clan were unable to explain it as simply as Roland was. Obviously his understanding of these so-called Laws must have at least surpassed theirs.

Not only that, but the three felt a certain tingling in their mind as they listened. He had only begun talking, but it was like there was a certain energy that came from the words themselves. It was as if Roland was transmitting a bit of his own understanding straight to their consciousness. As he continued explaining, they could vaguely sense the vast profoundness that Laws must contain and their attention was focused solely on his words.

"Elemental Laws are the forces that hold this world together. Lets use something as an example." He looked around, and saw a tree about fifty feet away. His figure blurred a bit, and when it stabilized again he held a leaf in his hand. " Let's use this leaf. Lilith, hold out your palm." He told her.

Looking a bit confused, she wordlessly complied, wondering what he was going with this. He threw the leaf upwards, and contrary to expectations, the leaf traveled high up into the air and disappeared. "You think a falling leaf will land completly randomly, right? But actually the leaf is constanty being influenced by countless forces that dictate where it will land. Once one understands all those forces on a certain level, it becomes simplicity itself to know exactly where the leaf will land."

He took Lilith hand, guiding it into a certain position in the air.

James and Saren, predicting his intention, looked up. They saw the leaf slowly descend, fluttering in the wind chaotically.

After a while, the leaf continued falling until it landed, gently, right on top of Lilith's unmoving palm. Lilith and the brothers let out amazed looks. It was something so simple, and yet . . .

" That was something anyone who understands Elemental Laws to a certain degree can do. But it is also possible to manipulate Elemental Laws. Well, not many can do that though. And this was only possible because the Elemental Laws of this world are stable. This means that the world has had time to settle and must be at least a few billion years old. Younger worlds have unstable Elemental Laws and that makes things pretty complicated. But lets not get into that for now."

The three looked at him and wondered to what degree Roland's understanding of Elemental Laws had reached. " But that isnt it. There are also countless other Laws in existance. . .For example, Blade Laws." He smiled. "Originally, it was called Sword Laws. See, a sword is perhaps the only weapon created for the sole purpose of combat, to kill others. Other weapons began as mere tools to help in survival, but swords were created for the purpose of allowing men and woman to kill each other easier. Not animals, but each other. This was a concept that Heaven, the mysterious force that governs creation, seemed to consider important.

Whether Heaven dislikes it or not is unknown, but from the moment the very first sword was created there was also born a force we call Sword Laws. These Laws were, at first, young and unstable. As the use and concept of swords spread, the Sword Laws grew in power. Even swords themselves, originally lifeless metal, were soon able to generate a type of special cold and sharp energy that was unlike anything else. We call this Sword force.

Now that there are so many countless sword techniques and styles, the Sword Laws became very deep and vast. When other tools were adapted to take lives as well, the Sword Laws underwent a change. It was split into another layer, a sort of sub-level called Blade Laws. Now any bladed weapon can have the potential to generate energy similar to Sword force, which is what is known as Blade force. Swords, from the moment it is forged, have Sword force but other bladed weapons are not created with any force whatsoever. For that, a wielder must reach a certain level of understanding in Blade Laws before their weapon can produce Blade force. Any questions so far?"

After he finished speaking, the three felt a small explosion deep in their consciousness. They felt they had just recieved something extremly important, but they couldnt comprehend what it was.

Roland watched them with a small smile. Right now, they were in the midst of understanding the first inklings of Laws. The brothers gained the most insight with Sword Laws, while Lilith gained some from Blade Laws and Elemental Laws both.

They were in a state of enlightenment where the process of understanding was advancing at a rapid pace. Roland had, admittedly, helped stimulate this state because as he talked he transmitted a series of thoughts and images directly to their subconscious minds. They would not be able to notice them at this stage, but perhaps if their understanding of Laws reached a certain level, they would be able to someday.

And the best way to ensure they would get the most out of this special state was, of course, through combat!

"Well then, i think that's enough talking for now."

Materializing a sword out of thin air, he slashed at their unprepared bodies.

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Author's notes. I had the idea of using concepts like Sword force for awhile now. its an idea thats been done before by many other authors and i thought it would be interesting to include it in the story. As for Laws, im not sure where i will take it but i have a few ideas due to all the things i read.