The ceremony's location was in a forest called Woeful Souls, west of the Blake duchy. Between the duchy and the forest was the province of Baroness Celia Avitus.
The Blake family were currently flying over that territory.
Although the wind's up high was cold, the family was unbothered by it due to them being vampires and also with the help of the runes constructed with the Sky spell.
The direction they were facing was where the sun was setting, so the view could be said to be one of a kind.
[And then, and then?] Luna asked with enthusiasm. Athan had cast a tier 6 telepathy spell a while ago, and they were talking through it.
[Afterward, it was just a field of yellow dust, like fireflies. You should have seen Lily's face when she saw that. Hahaha,] Coy laughed as he responded back to Luna's inquiry.
They were talking about the day before, when Coy and Lily were playing with Hesper out in the field. Although the him now with his old memories didn't personally live through that moment, he still found it enjoyable and mystifying.
Luna was flying next to Melania, with Coy and Athan ahead of them out of respect. The back of the ladies' dresses couldn't be seen because of the dark and murky substances that trailed behind them. They resembled bats.
[Mother, this spell of yours is really convenient. With this, no one can peep at us, even though I don't think anyone will attempt to do that except a crazy person,] stated Luna as she twirled around like a bird with a smile.
[Bat obscure, a tier 3 spell. Without your father's help with the dark element, I wouldn't have come up with this. Although my affinity for the dark element is faint, this much is doable as long as I keep supplying mana to it,] Melania replied as she looked at her daughter doing flashy moves with her brows raised.
{Brat, the world has advanced more than I thought. Back then, spells were not seen as something handy that could be used for everyday purposes; they were only used for war and oppression. Of course, some fools who believed in justice were abundant in the early ages of magic and knighthood, but they either got drowned in a pond or secretly executed behind a pig's barn. A fitting end for their foolishness, I suppose,} commented Chóros casually.
{Do you not believe in justice?} asked Coy. He had the time to chat with Chóros since Athan was quiet and the ladies were talking to each other.
Chóros thought for a moment and said, {I believe in justice, but justice without an unyielding force behind it is like the passing of the wind in the month of the Storm. Sure it will tumble the oppressors' foundation for some time and rock the minds of the commoners, but that will elapse like how the strong winds quickly came and quickly left in the month of Storm.
{Hence, in my opinion, the justice system back then was a failed attempt at correcting things with what little meager power those justice enforcers possessed, but they do have my respect for their actions. At least they had the courage and tried what little they could do, and that planted some seeds in the hearts of the young, in which one of them could truly enact justice one day that might be around for more than the duration of the wind in the month of the storm... What about you? Do you believe in justice.}
{Partially.} Coy answered with a flat tone. To him, justice was justice when served with one's own hands.
Athan noticed Coy's eyes appearing lost. He made a private telepathy link and asked, [Do you have something in mind?]
Coy looked at him and thought to himself that it was the right time to ask about more details about the ceremony.
[Can you tell me about the purpose behind the ceremony, father?]
Athan eyed him with a smile as he found Coy's tendency to know more amusing. [It's fair for the person in question to be curious about the ceremony. In the years that were before me and my father's father, the races of Mundus each developed their own cultural lifestyle that was slightly unique to themselves but, in actuality, originated from a single source of inspiration.
[One of them is the coming-of-age ceremony. It was first practiced by the elves, followed by the dragons, vampires, merfolk, dwarves, beastmen, and humans. The Giants were of low intelligence, but they also had their own simplified version of the ceremony. As for the Titans, they simply didn't care. Anyhow, the ceremonies were closely linked to the growth of the offspring's future.]
Athan continued, [Our coming-of-age ceremony is by blessing our children with the blood of a higher-ranking vampire. We do that in order to ensure that the child getting blessed does not lack the ability to utilise their vampire abilities and blood arts when they begin to show signs of developing them. Because the blood contains traces of memory from their elders regarding blood arts, the child can efficiently learn by digesting the memory rather than striving on their own.]
Coy nodded with understanding as he listened earnestly. It was truly astonishing, as the child could quickly catch up to the adults and assist them with the progression of the kingdom's military prowess.
[Also, with the help of that blood, the child shows exceptional growth in terms of their soul and body. The order of the blessing is like this: the king's family is blessed by the progenitor, and the dukes' family is blessed by the king, and so on until you reach the baron, where it is stopped. Commoners are not included in the blessing.]
Athan went quiet for a second as he glanced down at the forest of woeful souls they had just entered. 'We are close,' he thought.
Coy asked about a point that puzzled him. [Our progenitor has passed away, so how is the order being maintained?]
[A good question. The first king, with the blood of the progenitor inside him, blessed his own children, who would later become the next king, and the duke's family all together. The elders of the vampire royal council conjectured that the blood might be diluted gradually because every king's wife was from a duke household, but no such thing had occurred yet.]
'Interesting, we were not practitioners of such traditions back on earth as we trained on our blood arts ourselves; I doubt it would even work if we tried it; maybe with the help of the witches, it's possible. Those bunch of cuckoos had their own secrets.'
[We are here,] Melania said. The family who had been flying over the forest of woeful souls for quite some time had reached their destination.
It was a castle shaped like a cathedral. It towered over the trees in the vicinity and sat in a huge space suitable for many carriages to park. The castle was ashen gray, and it would have been thought to have been built just yesterday if it were not for the vines draped on its walls.
The arriving family felt a sense of sacredness when they saw it. Athan ceased their flight and opted to walk the remaining distance, which was only a hundred meters away.
When they were about a dozen meters away, Athan signaled for his family to bow as they all bent their waists for a few seconds. Coy who went with the flow, was dumbfounded by all of this, so he asked Chóros, {What is so significant about this castle for my father, a duke, to bow to it?}
{Just wait til you get inside.}
{Alright…}
The family climbed the entrance staircase and went inside the opened metal double door. The material of the door was of high quality, and looked sturdy.
Waiting in the foyer was Thomas, along with a group of maids and bachelors that were in a parallel formation.
They simultaneously bowed in unison. "We greet His Excellency, Lady Melania, the young miss, and the young master."
Athan nodded at them and smiled at Thomas. "The teleportation gates are open?"
"Yes, your Excellency. We are just waiting for the quests that will be arriving soon. We as the hosts of this occasion, did our utmost best to arrange this ceremony in honour of the progenitor, just like how we arranged the young miss' ceremony years ago," replied the old butler that has worked for the Blake family since the previous master of the house. Athan was a child back then.
"Good work; how is the stability of the gate? Do you need help with that?"
"Fortunately no, your Excellency. You could say that everything will be going smoothly tonight in the castle, except for uninvited guests who may cause some trouble. But such guests' threat level is equivalent to that of a mosquito before you, and they will only be courting death if they grace us with their bedevilment."
"Well done, Thomas. Escort the ladies to their resting room. We have some time before the guests arrive," said Athan.
Luna and Melania followed Thomas as they chatted like friends of equal age before being stopped by Athan. "Dear, please refrain from alcohol before the ceremony begins."
Melania, who was planning to secretly sneak into the wine cellar, looked at Athan with a shocked expression.
'How did he know I was going to do that?' she thought to herself. Looking at his persuasive smile, she clicked her tongue and walked away with Luna, huffing internally.
The servants of the family were used to such interactions between their masters, so this could be regarded as a daily occurrence in their lives.
As this hilarious situation was unfolding, Coy was preoccupied with something else. Since he stepped foot inside this castle, he had this pestering sensation that someone was peering at him from a distance, but he could not identify where it was coming from or who it was. His senses were high, and his eyes were sharp. This place has suddenly turned into an eerie and gloomy place in Coy's mind.
{Do you feel that? The feeling of your soul being scrutinised? Be not surprised because you are standing in one of the most historical places on Mundus. Domus Sanguinis, the living castle of the first vampire.}
'What?! You are telling me this is actually a living castle?' Coy's train of thought was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder.
"Yes father?" Coy held himself back from questioning Chóros about the castle and faced his father.
Athan had been observing Coy's reaction the moment they entered the castle, seeing if he could notice anything off about it. He was happy to see him become tense as soon as he went through the door. This proved that his senses were at an expert level.
The Domus sanguinis gaze could not be perceived if one's senses were not adequate enough.
'It seems that training him with a sword was the right choice. He could survive without us in a foreign land. I made the right decision to invite Caesy.'
"Follow me; we have something to discuss concerning your future," Athan said.