After about five minutes, the members of the Akane Clan Nobility managed to reach the Sun Temple Park before Steely’s Blood Transfusion begins.

  “Lord Enrei, glad to see that you’re finally here!”

  One of the Foxian Kannushis, who works at the Shrine of the Sun and a close friend of Enrei, felt extremely relieved to see that they all managed to make it in time. The old foxian let out a nervous chuckle before shaking hands with the Kannushi.

  “Haha… Sorry about that, Yagito. We would’ve arrived here a lot earlier, but you know how it is. My eldest granddaughter’s return is today, so we needed to have a feast first to welcome her back home!”

  Yagito shook his head before a sincere smile appeared on his face and responded.

  “There’s no need for you to apologize for something like that, Enrei. As a grandfather to a grandson myself, I too understand the reasons behind your lateness.”

  Yagito then checked a few of the preparations right in front of the Temple before nodding his head and returning his gaze to Enrei and said in a stern voice.

  “As much as I’d like to talk with you, we have little to no time right now. You and the Young Lord must come with me immediately, I’ll help you two prepare for Lord Steely’s Blood Transfusion this instant.”

  Enrei nodded his head.

  “Then I guess it’s best that we don’t waste time then.” He then turned to Steely and grabbed his hand.

  “Come quick, my boy. We’ve only got a few minutes of preparation before your Blood Transfusion starts and some guests are already arriving, so let’s get finish quickly!”

  “Got it, Gramps! Mom, dad, Stella, and Amber-nee, we’ll be heading out now. Find a seat near the front of the Temple to get the best view!”

  Once Steely was finished saying his goodbyes, he and Enrei followed right behind Yagori as the Foxian Kannushi led them towards inside of the Sun Temple Shrine.

  “Ah!”

  It was then that Stella remembered something. Her sudden shout surprised the rest of her family members, but it wasn’t enough to make them completely jump or lose composure.

  “What is it, Stella?” Aki asked.

  “I forgot to give these to bro and Grampa.”

  Stella reached inside her kimono and took out a small box that had six gleaming earrings with a base of gold and different secondary colors based of the gems in them.

  All three of the remaining Noble Akane Family were astonished with the beauty and glimmer of the earrings.

  It was clear that the gems in them were Pure Magic Stones that were freshly mined, cleanly cut, and polished on the same day. Atleast, that’s what Aki thinks as he stared at the earrings with a keen eye.

  “S-Stella… T-These earrings are…” Aki trailed off.

  “Hm? What is it, dad?” Stella asked.

  His reaction caused all of the females in their family to stare at him. When he glanced at them one by one, one thing became clear; other than their beauty, he was the only one that saw the true worth of these earrings.

  So, in preparation for his explanation, he cleared his throat before he spoke in a steady voice.

  “Stella, firstly; where did you managed to buy these earrings?” Aki asked slowly.

  “Eh? If you’re wondering where I bought these, it was from the same shop where I bought Onee-chan’s kimono. I thought that it’d look good on all of us as well as a sign of our familial bond together.” Stella answered.

  “Okay, forget about those details. How much did you spend to buy these?” Aki asked a different question.

  Stella pondered for a bit as she tried to remember what the amount was, and after a while, she finally answered.

  “If I consider Onee-chan’s kimono… The old lady said it was about two silver coins and five bronze coins. But if we consider the receipt if it’s just the earrings, then… It was written it was about one silver coin and three bronze coins.”

  “That’s on the cheaper side of things, despite the fact that these earrings have quite an intricate and beautiful design. Not to mention the polish on the gems.” Amber pondered.

  “It would seem that Stella managed to buy something quite special at such a low price at that.” Shiranui thought.

  As if understanding what his wife and eldest daughter was thinking, Aki answered with confidence in his voice.

  “I know what you two are thinking, and I assure you; it wasn’t Stella’s nor was it the store lady’s fault for selling these earrings for such a low price. Quite frankly, even the common people won’t be able to tell the difference.”

  His sentence left the females confused as they all cocked their heads to the right with one ear raised and the other flopping down.

  “What do you mean by that, dad?” Stella asked first.

  “Yeah. What do you mean “The common won’t be able to tell the difference”, dad? Aren’t these just regular beautifully designed earrings?” Amber was the next to ask.

  Shiranui didn’t asked another question as she was still staring carefully at the earrings inside the box. She trusts her husband’s judgement when it comes to minerals since she knew he was never wrong before.

  So when Aki said that these earrings weren’t merely regular earrings, Shiranui started having a bit of suspicion and interest.

  “What I mean is that these “earrings” aren’t just your regular jewelry. These earrings are in fact—.”

  *THUD!*

  A loud thud of a massive drum, which caught the attention of everyone, echoed throughout the whole venue of the Sun Temple Park.

  This only meant one thing for everyone, especially for the Foxians of the Akane Clan who had already witnessed it for themselves first hand, the Blood Transfusion Ritual was starting.

  Although Aki was a little irritated that he was cut off in the middle of his sentence, he just let out it go with a sigh as it was a special day for all of them.

  “No point in ruining this day over something trivial.” Aki said in his head.

  Everyone then, with a bit of scrambling for positions here and there, sat on their respective seats and waited for the ritual to begin.

  Once everyone saw Yagito open the main doors of the temple and got outside, they all stayed quiet and paid attention as they let the Foxian Kannushi speak.

  “Friends, family, and guests from far distant lands… Today is a special day—not just for me, but for the whole of the Akane Clan. It’s with my great pleasure to start this Blood Transfusion Ceremony with the honor of blessing our young lord.”

  “For today is a special day for him and for his family, for he is about to start his journey—his first step—as a True Akane Clan Member.” He then glanced at the crowd.

  “Now for guests afar who are here, please understand that this is a sacred ritual. I plead that you all respect this sanctuary and do not touch any parts of the property nor interfere as the ceremony is happening.”

  “I hope I made myself clear and let us now begin the Blood Transfusion Ritual of the Adopted Son of the Akane Nobility. Please all rise to honor and bless our members who are to perform the ritual.”

  As everyone rose from their seats, the sounds of the drums kept on beating while it was accompanied with the soft whistle of the flute and strung of the biwas.

  One by one, multiple Kannushis set foot on the wooden platform of the Sun Temple and stopped as they stood side by side once the sounds of the drums ended.

  The two Kannushis who were near the sliding doors of the temple faced each other before they both grabbed the handles of the doors and slid it open, allowing everyone to see who were standing inside of the shrine.

  Both Steely and Enrei were half naked with only their black hakama-style pants on and prayer beads around their necks and their wrists. They were also accompanied with four beautiful foxian shrine maidens, two each on their side.

  Yagito then took out a small stick that had bells on it before he gently waved it from side to side, making the bells ring loudly. Once the bells were ringing, the shrine maidens walked forward first with Steely and Enrei right behind them.

  When Yagito stopped ringing the bells, both Steely and Enrei backs were now faced on the gigantic slabs that had magic stones outlining the slabs shape. It was also when the shrine maidens grabbed magic stones on the altar beside the slabs.

  The two shrine maidens on Steely’s side were holding translucent clear white magic stones on both of their hands, while the shrine maidens on Enrei’s side have red translucent magic stones.

  Yagito then walked over to the temple’s stairs located in the middle before he spoke as he raised both of his arms.

  “As per tradition of the Akane Clan; those who desires to become one of us, shall become one of us by blood. This sacred ritual is proof that tradition. For those who wishes to train in our arts and history, must first understand our being.”

  He then raised the stick in the air before he waved it rapidly, a signal for both Steely and Enrei to walk backwards and lay flat on top of the stone slabs.

  “As our ancient saying goes: From blood we are united and only blood shall tear us apart. May these foxians be blessed by our Goddess of Creation and let their entire being reshape anew.”

  As he kept on ringing the bells, the shrine maidens placed the magic stones on their bodies. One was placed on each of their pectoralis major, one on their sternums, and one on their linea albas. The other Kannushis also lit a candle each.

  “As these stones are placed on the bodies of these candidates, and as the flames of these candles are lit brightly, we shall recite a holy aria. Recite after me: As one is born by blood, then one shall become anew by blood.”

  “As one is born by blood, then one shall become anew by blood.” Everyone responded.

  “As thy flames are lit, so too shall our entire being.” Yagito recited.

  “As thy flames are lit, so too shall our entire being.” Everyone responded.

  It was then that the magic stones of both Steely’s and Enrei’s started to grow brightly as both of their bodies started to gently convulse as their own blood started to rise inside the magic stones.

  “Once, I ask of thee to accept me; twice, I respond with open arms.” Yagito recited as everyone responded.

  “Once, I ask of thee to accept me; twice, I respond with open arms.”

  Both Steely’s and Enrei’s blood inside the magic stones started to pour out of them before it rose inside the air and form a massive ball of blood floating above them.

  Enrei’s ball of blood was larger than Steely’s though since he was the one that’s “giving” his blood to Steely.

  The sight of the massive balls of blood either astonished or disgusted those that saw their first ever Blood Transfusion Ritual, but for those who’ve already seen it before, they stayed quiet—silently watching with gentle care and slight worry.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  By this point in the ritual, both of the participants would start to become unconscious due to the loss of blood, so the Kannushi performing the Blood Transfusion Ritual had to act fast yet careful for them to not die of blood loss.

  “May the blood of thee converge and become anew!” Yagito shouted loudly.

  “May the blood of thee converge and become anew!” Those who weren’t astonished or disgusted responded in kind.

  Once he heard their response, Yagito’s eyes changed into an octagram star with four points colored black being smaller than the other four that had different colors. That being: dark red, white, yellow, and brown.

  This was the Akane Clan’s God Eye in action. An eye that lets the user acquire four different abilities after enduring the ability’s nature both mentally and physically through various harsh and dangerous training.

  As the God Eye is activated, the user can only use either two out of four abilities or one out of four abilities at once.

  Yagito, as the Blood Transfusion Ritual is occurring, is using the dark red and white colors.

  The Dark Red being “Blood Resonance”, which allows him to resonate a person’s blood to another; and the White being “Divine Rite”, which makes reciting and controlling the flow of any divine rituals, ceremonies, or incantations easier.

  “Urk…!” Yagito groaned in pain as his head was hurting.

  “I… I can’t lose focus! The fate of this ritual’s success is in my hands! I can’t let Enrei and his family down!”

  And so, Yagito endured the pain of his head, but it was clear for those watching that he was struggling and this made most of them concerned for his wellbeing.

  He then forced himself to lift his right arm in the air and combine the two massive balls of blood together using his Blood Resonance ability.

  With Steely…

  “Huh…? Where… am I…?”

  After his own blood seeped out of his body and into the magic stones during his ritual, Steely awoke into an unknown space. It was an endless sea of darkness with nothing to see or touch except for the “ground” beneath him.

  “This place… It isn’t the Sun Temple Shrine. Yet, why do I feel like there is… a sense of belonging here…?”

  He then tried to call out in the darkness, only to realize that—even though his mouth moved—his voice didn’t came out at all.

  “W-Wait?! I-I can’t speak?! Why can’t I speak here?! Did something wrong happen during the ritual?!”

  Panicked, he glanced from left to right and then up in the “sky” before he stared back straight once more and pondered while trying to calm himself down.

  “Deep breaths, Steely… Deep breaths… Panicking won’t solve anything during situations like these. Remember Gramps’s training: Panicking will weaken you in front of the enemy. I need to find out where I am first and then take action.”

  And so, Steely ran and ran in a straight line into the endless sea of darkness. Although he doesn’t know where he’s really going, he has no choice but to go deeper and only hope for an answer.

  But it was clear that hope was becoming thinner and thinner.

  “Where in the Netherworld am I?!” He screamed mentally.

  “I’ve been running here endlessly in a completely straight line and yet there is not even a single thing in this place other than the endless vast darkness that stretches to who knows how long! Am I dead?!”

  He then shook his head before slapping both of his cheek and squat down on the floor.

  “No! Keep it together, Steely Akane! Even if you are to die, this isn’t the Heaven or Hell that everyone knows about.” He let out a sigh before standing up once more.

  “Just where in the Netherworld am I?”

  His eyes then widened when his voice finally came out. But of course, he needed to make sure first.

  “Ah. Ah. Testing, testing… Holy… My voice is back!”

  His face gleamed as a smile appeared on his face while his right hand was clenched once he finally confirmed that his voice is truly back.

  “Okay, now that was really strange. Why did I suddenly lose my voice anyway?”

  Although there were many questions in Steely’s mind right now, there is one thing that he’s really certain of: Wherever this place is, he really needs to get out of here.

  “I don’t want to be trapped here forever. I’m not even sure if time works properly here. Whatever though, it’s best to find an exit already!”

  He looked left and right again before looking behind him, he then turned back forward before he placed his right hand over his mouth and started to think carefully.

  “Alright... So far, that I’ve noticed is that this place is just an endless area of darkness—that much was a given—but I’ve only been running in a straight line, so what if I ran to the left this time…?”

  Of course, he knew that this really isn’t a solid plan since he was just running aimlessly straight earlier, but it couldn’t hurt trying to take a slightly “different” approach, right?

  “Only one way to find out though! I’ll head west and see where it takes me!” Steely exclaimed before running to the west.

  A while later…

  “Okay, I give up…” Steely sighed.

  His shoulders were slumped low while his breathing was a bit ragged from all of the running that he’s done. It seemed like his “plan” was pretty much deemed useless since all there was in the west was still darkness.

  “AARGH!!! JUST WHERE IN THE NETHERWORLD AM I REALLY AT?!” He shouted loudly in the dark sky.

  “I’ve been running for who knows how long and I’ve got nothing! Not even a single puddle of water nor a single shine of light! Ugh…” He groaned as he slumped once more.

  “Whatever… I guess I’ll just keep walking to the west…”

  And so, he started walking once more with not a single ounce of hope in his heart, knowing full well that there’s probably only going to be more darkness in the road—.

  “Ow!”

  That was until he tripped on something within the darkness, which made him fall onto the dark “ground”.

  “Ugh… What the…? What did I just got tripped by…?”

  Steely looked back and to his shock, a white tree root was dug deep into the “ground” and it was in pretty deep, but he did see a curved protrusion that’s about five inches tall.

  “Is that… What I tripped on…? That’s strange. So far, I’ve seen nothing but darkness.” He then stood up and took a closer look on the root.

  “But at least finding a root is better than nothing. But why is this singular root only here? Shouldn’t it be attached to a tree or have other roots connected to it?” He cocked his head sideways.

  This raised a lot of questions for Steely. Other than his first two questions, why would a root really be here though? This place was an area of endless darkness with no light, a root—let alone a tree—wouldn’t survive here.

  Still though, he needed to make sure that his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. So with a slow movement of his right arm, he used his right hand’s index finger to touch the root.

  *FWOOSH!*

  “WOAH!!!”

  And just as he touched the root, it somehow burned into a massive ring of bright flames. It soon grew and then grew once more, making it surround him with about fifteen meters of radius.

  Just as the flames burned hotter, the circle started to shrink. Without knowing what to do, Steely just used his arms to shield himself from the burns. But when he didn’t feel any burns, he stopped shielding himself.

  And what he saw, just confused him even more. Because it turns out that when the flames shrunk and died out, a necklace with nine tomoe beads appeared above him, with the beads burning hot.

  Just before he spoke though, the necklace suddenly wrapped around his nape and the tomoes burned the skin near the clavicle of his body, marking him.

  “AAAAGGHHH!!!”

  Steely screamed loudly, pain clear in his voice as he tried to remove the burning necklace away from his body. But this didn’t ended well as it just burned his hands and made the flames burn hotter.

  He screamed loudly once again, a more ear piercing shriek-like scream, as he fell on the floor before his vision blurred slowly. The last thing he saw before blacking out was a pair of red fox eyes and nine flaming fox tails staring at him.

  Back in the real world…

  “…teely… Steely… Steely! Brother, wake up!” Stella shouted loudly.

  “Urk… ugh… Ow… My head…”

  When Steely’s eyes opened slowly, he first saw the relieved looks on both of his sisters’ faces staring at him. Stella and Amber let out a breath of relief that they didn’t knew they were holding before Stella hugged Steely tightly.

  “Oh, thank the Goddess that you’re alright, brother!” Stella exclaimed, relieved.

  “We were so worried about you when you didn’t awaken when the Blood Transfusion was completed.” Amber hugged him as well.

  “Is it… over already…?” Steely asked slowly, his vision still a bit blurred.

  “Yeah… It’s over already, little bro. Thank goodness that you’re awake now.” Amber replied.

  She then stopped hugging him as she stood up and stared at Enrei’s situation. Steely then tried to sit up, but couldn’t, so Stella had to help him before the two of them stared at where Enrei was laid at during the ritual.

  There, they saw Aki, Shiranui, and Yagito helping the old foxian get up, despite the old foxian’s protests.

  It was clear that the Blood Transfusion gave them a huge toll, but Enrei took a bigger hit since he was the one that had to transfer his blood to Steely.

  “Brother, you’re neck…” Stella said softly before pointing at his neck.

  When Steely looked down, he saw the burned scars of the tomoes around him. But he only saw five in front of him, he can only deduce the other four were behind his nape.

  “What happened, bro? You never had these before when the transfusion started.” Stella asked with concern in her tone.

  “I… don’t know what happened either.” Steely answered back.

  “All that I remember was that I was burned by a necklace and that… a pair of red eyes were staring right at me before I blacked out…” He informed.

  When Amber heard their talk, she got curious and couldn’t help but turn back to them and ask a question.

  “Did you perhaps have a nightmare during the transfusion? Or was it a vision of some sorts that you saw?”

  Steely shook his head at his big sister, denying any confirmation about what he saw because even he doesn’t know what he saw during the transfusion. This left a huge hole in the mystery of the “nightmare” or “vision” that Steely saw.

  “Well, whatever it was, all that’s important is that you’re awake now. The foxian characteristics will begin taking shape sooner or later, so I suggest that you take a proper rest first before anything else.” Amber suggested.

  Yup, he definitely needed rest after that absurd “nightmare” that he had. And so, after a while, they left the temple together and back to their home to sleep.