Rowan Edenheart

I woke up as the bright sunlight penetrated through the leaves of the large trees around me and reached my eyes. After thinking for a moment where the hell I was, I remembered what happened last night and the fact that I should be somewhere in the ancient forest of the elves, 'Derwair'.

My bleeding stopped and my bones were also more or less fixed. My legs too were wrapped around in bandages somehow.

'Huh! Someone helped me? Who was it? Still it shouldn't be enough to heal in a day. Just how many days did I sleep for?'

I had many things I wanted to think, but for now, my thirst and hunger wasn't letting me do any of that. After struggling for a little while, I stood up and started limping towards the lake a little ahead from the place where I was lying.

Gulp! Gulp!

"Kyahhh, I feel alive again."

I could see that it wouldn't be that difficult to survive in this forest for a few days as both food and water could be found here without that much of a difficulty.

I walked around the forest for an hour or so. And as I expected, there were quite a lot of fruits that looked edible. I collected as many as I could and after some more strolling, I found some mushrooms too.

'Wow! What happened to my 'bad luck'? I am surprisingly lucky today. '

"You'll die if you eat those." Suddenly an unknown voice startled me from behind, warning me about the mushrooms.

'What??'

I looked back and saw someone wearing an old but clean white shirt with black breeching and long brown boots. Just like his shirt, the boots were pretty worn out too.

'Pale face, hazel eyes, pointed ears and light brown hair. Anyone can tell he's an elf. He looks quite strong too. Will he be hostile to me if he finds out that I am a demi-god?'

My first concern was a little different as I didn't know how the other races treated the demigods, but it shouldn't be that bad as the relationship between humans and elves.

Regardless, I started with a polite tone.

"Is that so? Thank you for your warning, Good Sir. Are you the one who saved me?"

The man was smiling brightly as he answered me, which for some reason scared me even more.

"No need to be so humble. I am indeed the one who saved you. But how did you get here, kid?" He answered and asked patiently.

"I had some kind of accident back in my place. This was the only portal with enough mana so I had to take some risks."

"Hmm... Is that so? An accident in the land of gods. How rare!" He replied with an amused smile.

My face suddenly paled and I felt like sweating a little. 'Should I run? I think I'll be killed before that.'

The elf was thoroughly enjoying the various reactions on my face. Soon he let out a slight giggle and continued his words.

"... No need to be so stressed out. I saved you despite knowing you are a demi-god. I don't know what you people think of us but the demi-gods visit these lands of other races sometimes. Well, although it's rare, it's not impossible to see a demi-god once in a while." The elf assured as he looked towards my doubtful face. "But it is really rare to see one in this forest though."

"I see. But how did you find out?" I enquired.

"Grey hair, golden eyes. A combination I've never seen. Though not as pretty as the elven royals, your looks definitely surpass most of the humans and many commoner elves. Hmm... I guess you were quite good looking even by the demi-gods standard. Your blood is also a little thicker than the humans. And your stigmata...I have never seen it. So I just assumed that you were a product of those gods. "

'Product? What product, you creep. And how can you check my stigmata without asking me. And why is he smiling like that at me? Don't tell me he's...?'

Maybe he guessed what I was thinking as he immediately said with an awkward smile.

"Cough!... I-I don't swing that way too. I even had a wife once. Though she's not with me anymore. By the way, I am Rowan Edenheart. At least, that was who I was once. Now, just call me Rowan."

His words left my eyes open and my mouth agape. Well, it's not because of the wife thing but rather the next part that he said.

"Edenheart?! As in 'The Edenhearts'? The royal family of elves?"

I didn't know much about elven culture and history, but I do know the present elven Royal Families. And The Edenhearts were quite famous among them for their superior archery.

"That is indeed so." Rowan confirmed with the same smile on his face.

'What? What is a person from the royal family doing here? I-I really can't help but find it more suspicious. But he did save my life...'

After a brief moment of thinking, I decided to open up a little bit to Mr. Edenheart here as my only hope for returning to Elysium.

"I am Owen Grey. And as you said, I am a demi-god. A normal commoner among them though"

Grooowl!!

'S-shut up, you damned stomach.'

"Looks like you're quite hungry. Well, you slept for three days without eating anything after all."

"Three what?!" I asked again in somewhat disbelief.

"Three whole days. Still, you woke up earlier than I expected. Let's go and have some food. And please bring these fruits too. Some of them are edible"

Not really having that much of a choice here, I decided to follow Rowan. He lived in a place which was a little far from the portal and after walking for like half an hour, we finally reached his cottage.

It didn't appear like a place that would have any beds or showers. The cottage itself was made from branches, grasses and mud but it looked strong enough to withstand a certain level of heavy rain or storms.

A little ahead, there was a waterfall too.

'Not too shabby for a guy who lives alone in a forest, I guess.'

"Umm... Mister Rowan. Why do you live here?" I asked unable to hold my curiosity down.

"Just Rowan is enough. And as for your question, I betrayed the elves during the Great War between the Elves and Humans and so I was chased out by my own race. Well, I'll be killed if they find me though" He answered so casually that I had to think for a moment what I was listening to. At the same time, I was shocked to learn about his age too.

'Great War between the Elves and Humans? That was 40 years ago. He is more than 40? I thought he was in his early twenties.'

"Uh.... Are you sure you can say these to me?"

"Haha.. No problem, it's not like this is a top secret anymore. And I don't think anyone will believe you even if you go and shout about my hideout here. Here, please eat." He said, as he handed over a plate full of fruits and vegetables towards me.

'Damn... I am so hungry that even these fruits are making me salivate'

I ate without saying a single word for several minutes and finally stopped with a loud burp. Not sure what to say next, I looked around the house while trying to bring up a topic.

Finally, ending the awkward silence, Rowan asked me as he stood out to leave the cabin.

"So Owen, what are your plans next?"

'What are my plans. I'm not sure about that myself. I just want to go back home.'

"Is there a way for me to go back to Elysium?" I asked without having that much of a hope. I expected that it might take me more than year to go back.

"Hmm...It's not that there's no way. People from here visit Elysium sometimes. But it's like a dream to many of them too so it'll be hard. The Royals have a comparatively easy access there, but right now, you're a nobody, so I highly doubt any big-shots would try to help you."

'That's troublesome'

"So what's the easiest way?"

"There is no easy way to enter Elysium. If you think of infiltrating that place, you'll be killed right away. And even if you're a demigod, you are still a commoner, so I don't think they'll care if you are alive or not." He answered with a forced smile.

'That's true. Other than my family, I don't think others will really care about me. So infiltrating is cancel. Now what?'

Taking a plough from the side of the cabin, he continued. "But for you, I think the easiest way is to enter the 'Blood Legacy Competition', though that's not easy either. The age limit to participate is 20 years and the winner is taken to 'Elysium' and receives a 'Blood potion'."

A Blood potion. It's a potion that removes the limits of certain abilities. The level or the star of a stigmata are fixed from one's birth but that's not the case for the skills and levels.

Unlike the demi-gods, who mostly are able to reach the Stage IV that is either Master or Paragon, most of the humans only reach a maximum of Stage III and those who can surpass Stage IV are in the hundreds.

How are the Rank stages divided? Well, it's simple.

There are a total of ten Ranks and this Rank upgrades in every twenty levels

.

Level 1 to 20 is Stage I called 'Apprentice'.

Level 21 to 40 is Stage II called 'Warrior'.

But after that, it is a little complicated.

Based on what path or skills we take, what goals and achievements we obtain during our lifetime, the higher stages are slightly different

.

Stage III includes either Master or Paragon which evolves into Supreme and Sage respectively at Stage IV.

And the last, that is Level 81 to 100, or Stage V, include Trancendant, Monarch, Sovereign or Archangel. Based on your skills and behavior, you will achieve any one of these ranks.

For example, a person who bends more towards skill-based fighting instead of raw swordsmanship or martial arts, that person is more likely to become a Paragon and then a Sage. And then it'll finally evolve between Monarch or Archangel based on other criteria.

And among the humans, 'nine' of them had reached the level of 90 destroying all common sense. Out of these nine anomalies, seven of them later formed the 'Seven Great Imperial Families' of the Human Kingdom and were given the title of 'Duke'.

One of the nine also belonged to the Royal Family and he later proceeded to become the King. He was also considered the second strongest among the nine.

As for the strongest one, his whereabouts are long unknown. Some even say that he died at the hands of the dragons.

What's the use of blood potion in all these?

Well, the blood potion can increase one's potential to great extent for reaching a higher level and also slightly increases the chances of upgrading the skills to a higher number of stars. It's not only a treasured item for the humans, but for all races, including the demi-gods.

'I think it'll be a great help to me who doesn't even have a 1-star stigmata. There are around twenty people in Elysium who reached level 90 and the highest is the Chief Commander of the Royal Knights who is at level 96. Maybe one day, I can reach something like that too!!! W-wait, wait... Calm down, boy. Going home comes first.'

After a brief moment of losing myself in my thoughts, I asked Rowan again with some great expectations.

"So when is the competition? Should I prepare for my journey now just in case I miss it somehow?"

Rowan gave me a pitiful look and stated softly. "It's in Lumina Town. It'll take a month to reach there from this forest. Seven days if you use portals."

"Ah! Okay. And when did you say is the competition again?"

"It's a really important competition so it's held once every ten years and I guess the next one will be in... "

"..."

'Will be in...?'

I couldn't help but have a bad feeling about this and the increasing silence only it worse.

"...."

"In four years."

"..."

"..."

"Pardon?"