--


    ''That wasn''t ev a fight...I''m pretty sure those two were just flirting.'' Cedric''s expression was clouded as he realized this.


    ''It''s undiable that they''re strong, but the match just now was disgraceful. I''m also pretty sure that it''s the girl''s idea. Oh well, whatever. Everyone has their own thing...I should just focus on mine.''


    "What a pity for Aurora." Thirdy who''s sitting beside him stated, he slurped thest of his drink before continuing: "She hasn''t reached the Intermediate Stage of her Sword Laws yet, if she did, th she''d have a Domain too. Maybe she''d be able to put up a more challging fight against Roran."


    ''Goodness gracious, he''s really clueless.'' Cedric muttered inwardly as he heard Thirdy treating the match seriously.


    Thirdy th looked at him and asked: "How about it? Would you like to experice this ce as well?"


    "How would that work exactly? Do I just walk up to someone and challge them into a fight?" Cedric asked in return.


    "That''s an option...but there are cemt matches that you''d have to go through first." The sior studt replied.


    "cemt matches?"


    "Mn." Thirdy nodded, "cemt matches are there to determine your currt rank amongst the studts of this ss. You''d have to fight  Alumni Phantoms. Each is adjusted to your strgth before and during the cemt matches."


    "That means that if the initial judgmt of the coliseum was wrong, either because you were defeated easily or won easily, the intelligce of this ce will adjust the level of your next oppont depding on what you''ve disyed."


    "...after the cemt matches, I get to challge my ssmates?" Cedric asked.


    "Yes. Or, they will challge you." Thirdy replied, "See that stone Steele over there?"


    Cedric followed where he was pointing and nodded at him: "...that''s the Ranking Steele. It disys the currt ranking for studts. You''re not there yet since you hav''t finished your cemt matches just yet."


    "I told before that this ss works a little differtlypared to other sses, right?" Thirdy asked, to which Cedric nodded, "It applies here too. If you want to acquire more resources to make yourself stronger, you must climb the rankings."


    "The pair just now; Aurora and Roran...respectively, are earning 5,000 and 30,000 APs monthly just by being in the top 5 of the rankings. And that''s outside of the other achievemts they get. To challge them, you need to make a bet. Winner takes all including the rank they have."


    "That''s how inctives work here, so staying low-key isn''t advised because that won''t bring anything to you other than anonymity."


    Cedric nodded at this exnation. The inctives for fighting sound incredibly gerous...and maybe it is, but that''s under the assumption that you win. And winning isn''t that easy, especially against those freaks. They are too expericed and too strong to go down that easily.


    "I won''t take the cemts matches for now," Cedric said after a brief deliberation. "I still need to digest everything from my rect breakthrough."


    "...up to you, th. Anyway, since these are the only two ces that have be unlocked for you, my assistance ds here. I''ll go and joy the rest of my day off th, see ya!"


    After saying that, Thirdy immediately left. Cedric could only smile wryly at this.


    He too left the Sword Collesium since he didn''t n on taking the cemt matches just yet, but he didn''t leave the ss just yet. Instead, he wt into the Sword Tempering Cave to practice.


    While it''s true that he won''t befit from this ce anymore because he now has a Sword Heart, it''s notpletely useless to him.


    Previously, he stopped at the 3500-mile depth of the cave. Upon his return, he rushed all the way to the 5000-mile mark which was halfway through the maximum lgth of the cave.


    This depth was fine with him, the razor-sharp winds couldn''t hurt him at all because his Sword Heart and the Sword Energies a him were pott ough to stimte his mind.


    Here, he stopped to sit down and digest the gains he received from the Sword Communion Hall.


    He oped his profile and nced at the [Law] section. He discovered that the 『Sr Laws』 he previously had changed into 『Astral Laws (Beginner)』.


    The Beginner Trait he received from it changed too. Previously, it was called ''Dawn''. Now, it has turned to ''Astral Gesis''.


    ''Astral Gesis'' allows him to harness the power of the Heavly Bodies. It allows him to absorb Astral Energy - a raw ergy source that''s produced Heavly Bodies. It also allows him to understand how the stars are born and how to mimic that.


    There is still a lot that he doesn''t know about it. Astral Laws are incredibly profound, especially since it hasn''t be studied by people since the Dawn of Superhumans. Additionally, because of the world''s state, especially with the leylines damaged, this world doesn''t produce ough Astral Ki for Cedric to make any reasonable progress.


    If he wants to convert all of his Ki to Astral Energy, he needs to do so in the real Sword Communion Hall. There, he''s connected to the gxy and can absorb as much Astral Energy as he wants.


    The only problem is that once all of Ki had be converted, there was no way for him to recover Astral Energy aside from absorbing it from the world, and that would be extremely slow giv the world''s currt state.


    ''Focus, Cedric. Don''t think too far ahead. Focus on the prest. Master the first trait first, th think about the rest.''


    Cedric took a deep breath and focused his efforts on digesting his gains so far. Because of the stimtion of the vironmt, hisprehsion was slightly boosted.


    Truthfully, he could''ve done this at home. However, because Cedric wasprehding Concept Laws, it will inevitably affect his surings.


    Just by sitting there, the space a him was warping. A gtle  light appeared on his body yet despite its weakess, it burns hot...hotter than normal mes.


    Sometimes, a violet shroud would flicker to existce a him. Sometimes, Cedric would promptly disappear.


    The Astral Gesis trait of the 『Astral Laws』 represts the beginning concept of saidw.


    Astral Gesis refers to the birth of Cosmic Bodies; stars,s, sr systems, and the universe...this trait not only gives Cedric the ability to absorb Astral Energies, but it allows him to mimic the very birth of a star provided that he understands how to do it and he has sufficit ergy for the task.


    Stars,s, sr systems, universes...all of them are a part of the Astral Laws but their creation differs from one another. Astral Laws also contained the essce of the Basic Concept Laws, Gravity Laws, Space, and Time Laws as well; each is considered a profound Concept Law of its own so in a way, Cedric also had to understand those too before he got the whole image.


    And this is just the beginning. Cedric''s barely scratching the surface here. Ev with his absurdprehsion level, it would take a lot of time to digest all of this.


    The funny thing is that Cedric came to the Sword Communion Hall to understand Sword Laws better, yet he came out knowing more about Astral Laws than Sword Laws.


    Well, the Law Communion Sword isn''t biased towards any particrw anyway. But others have no way of knowing that. If he wants to stay in this ss, he also has to pay atttion to his Sword Laws - which will prove just as challging as the Astral Laws since there are no guides avable to him.


    But Cedric believes that he could do it. The Godking believed in him and deemed him a worthy inheritor of his eyes. If that kind of existce believed in him, th it means that he''s capable.


    It will take time, yes. But he''s willing to put in the hours to achieve his goals.


    Cedric digested his gains for three whole days, staying in meditation within the Sword Tempering Cave for that long. Nobody disturbed him since he was safe here.


    Wh he oped his eyes, instead of rxing, he immediately practiced his stances.


    The insights heprehded earlier must be integrated into his Swordsmanship. With the Basic Sword Technique as its base; which Cedric practiced and mastered diligtly, he added the things he learned from his rect breakthroughs.


    As he practiced, Cedric''s swordsmanship slowly transformed. With a gtle swing of his sword, he could leave a gash on the suring space. A sweep of his sword could cut hills and mountains, a sh could bisect rivers and oceans...


    Every movemt of his sword was gtle yet vigorous. It was an art...a real Sword Art, one that belonged to him and only him.


    Cedric''s eyes shone brightly as he could feel his Sword Heart releasing pleased hums as he continued his performance. This was just the beginning. He hasn''t ev stepped into the real profundities of thews he learned rectly yet he already transformed this match.


    He would continue practicing this at home. For now, it''s time to return and spd time with the girls before they go on another mission.