Chapter 4 - Strange Status

Roland locked lips with Lusuka- the thought of dying made him act quickly on what he thought might have been a life saving straw. In his previous life Lusuka's kiss had reinvigorated his body and had stopped the poison from spreading. Who was to say he would not be saved a second time?

Frowning, Hendrik moved forward to stop Roland's assault. "Roland have some dignity, don't abuse the fact that I'm on your side to molest others"

Roland backed off from Lusuka.

He could feel the poison weaken after the first kiss and wanted another. Unfortunately Tanithil glared from the side with her poisonous blade pointed at him. There was no second chance for him.

With the poison having lessened in his body Roland could tell there was a significant decrease in it's lethality and with Carter's help it might be possible to completely remove it.

Hendrik saw that the situation was strange and asked to see Roland's condition status, after all he knew Roland was not as frivolous as he was made out to be by princess Tanithil and thought he must have had a good reason.

Roland immediately agreed and opened his status screen to show it to Hendrik but paused momentarily. It was not that Roland was afraid Hendrik would not believe him but rather, there were names and statues that he had never seen before on his screen. Who knows how he would react?

Name: Roland Bladeheart

Age: 14

Status: (Poisoned) (Gaia's Blessing) (Blessed One) (Hade's Curse) (Heaven's Bounty)

Rank: Unevolved Silver - 1 Star

Skills (Passive):

: Blade Heart technique

: Novice Sword Mastery

: Novice Scythe Mastery

: Advanced Archery Mastery

: Novice Spear Mastery

: Innate Instinct

Skills (Active):

: Shallow Strike

:Swift Strike

:Blade Sweep

:????

Gene Skills: Reverse Heal

Bloodline: Bladeheart

: ???(Inactive: conditions not met)

Before Roland could close his screen Hendrik had already read it's contents and gave a complex look. Unlike Roland , Hendrik was more knowledgeable and immediately knew what most of Roland's statuses meant.

A look of envy and surprised flashed in Hendrick's eyes and he suddenly came to a decision. Unsheathing his sword Hendrik called Roland to his side " come Roland, I can't protect you unless you stay close"

Roland immediately declined. The moment he had shown his status to Hendrik, Roland felt a strange feeling of dread. Instead, Roland turned to Lusuka and made up his mind.

A small ball fell next to his feet and burst into a cloud of smoke blocking Tanithil and Hendrik's sights "Run!" Grabbing Lusuka's arm Roland ran into the forest and disappeared.

Surprised at Roland's action Hendrik almost forgot to give chase. His decision to kill Roland was something he had only decided just now after seeing his status and there was no way he could have known beforehand which impressed Hendrik.

Lusuka did not have enough time to process everything that had just happened before she was dragged into the forest by Roland. "The moment you stop running we'll both be killed!" said Roland while gasping for air. Pulling Lusuka along was more taxing than he had thought.

"Down!" Lusuka came to her senses and immediately shoved Roland down the slope of the forest and diving after.

Thud!

Buried in the tree up to it's hilt where Roland previously stood was a sword made of light that soon turned to light particles. Roland looked up at the palm sized hole made by the light sword and recognized the destructive power. This was something Tanithil was incapable of but it was an easy feat for Hendrik.

"Why is Sir Hendrik also mmph-" Roland covered Lusuka's mouth and hid in the nearby bushes as sounds of breaking branches could be heard in the distance.

"Damn it, I should have struck earlier, did he get away?" a hoarse voice could be heard from the distance belonging to Hendrik Siegfried.

"They should still be in the forest and couldn't have gotten far" Tanithil replied

"I almost got his blessing too" Hendrik muttered while surveying the surroundings. This was a heaven-sent opportunity to change his destiny and it had narrowly escaped his grasp.

Roland and Lusuka hid in the bushes only a few feet away from where Tanithil stood and could only hold their breaths and pray that she would not turn around. Moving away a group of hanging vines covering some slabs behind him Roland pressed against the slab of rock behind him and signalled to Lusuka to follow his lead. The forest was Roland's territory , when he was smaller he would order his butler to find him before dusk and never once was he successfully found. Pushing away the slab Roland squeezed into the crevice and entered a small illuminated cave and Lusuka followed right after.

After the two had made their way out of danger Roland let out a breath of relief. This was his closest encounter with death as even average adults were not his equal. Even though Roland did not know the reason Hendrik had turned against him, the moment Hendrik had seen his information an alerting feeling of dread made him apprehensive and cautious. Is it my status? Roland Pondered.

Unbeknownst to Roland the Loli he had met after death had left him with a blessing that could be transferred to another person only after his death. With his dirt low reputation and now his blessing there would be countless persons who wanted him dead.

Lusuka tugged the edge of Roland's clothes which pulled him back to reality. They were still in the illuminated cave. While they were inside the cave it would be more accurate to say they were above the cave. Where Roland and Lusuka stood was a ledge that expanded outward roughly the length of an adult arm. and was as wide as the cave itself. Peering over the ledge Lusuka felt a chill down her spine. Falling from the ledge to the ground would cause a few broken bones if not death.

Roland understood Lusuka's concern and wanted to assure her that they would not need to jump over since Tanithil was unlikely to find the entrance that was hidden beneath the vines. Before Roland could even comfort her a silver sword swiftly appeared before his chest. As he was turning away from the path of the blade Roland saw Lusuka would not be fast enough to dodge and shoved her out of the way.

Unable to dodge the attack after saving Lusuka, Roland twisted his body to avoid the blade stabbing a vital point. Before he could regain his footing Roland had already fallen over the ledge.

"Sir Roland!" Lusuka did not think twice before jumping after Roland.

With no way of descending the cliff Hendrik and Tanithil had no choice but to give up the pursuit and search for another entrance to the cave.

Two days later

When Roland came to he immediately recognized the familiar glow of the illuminated rocks but didn't try to get up. There was blood in his mouth and constant pangs from his chest which meant his internal organs had suffered from the impact and there were more than just a few broken bones in his body.

Cough!

Now that he was in a bad condition the poison in Roland's body spiked, causing him to cough up mouthfuls of dark colored blood. Even though Lusuka's fall had been cushioned by Roland she had somehow suffered an almost fatal wound to the head. Fortunately it was not enough to take her life.

After a few more hours Lusuka finally woke up. Looking at Roland her eyes were filled with confusion and worry. "Where am I ...who are you?"