Blood...
The very vital body fluid that keeps the body functioned.
In the world of Magic and Mana, Blood, was considered a Special Elemental Power to master.
For those who had access with this power, are known to pose great danger over the World.
Since all of the living creatures, had blood within them.
That's why...
Those who had access to this, are considered Special, but also doomed.
As all Creatures, both Humans and Non-humans.
Despised those who had this kind of power.
Even though...
...
[ Sakurazaka Village ]
[ Status: In ruins ]
" C'mon! " Azi Dahaka laughs as he destroys the 'Blood Constructs' one by one.
"( Ohohoho, so interesting. )"
"( To see a Blood User in this Age, how very a 'Legendary Occurence'. )" Azi Dahaka kicks one of the Constructs.
" Is this all? " Azi Dahaka asks, after easily beating them all, in his vessel's weakened state.
" No, it's not. " Akafushi fingers then raise upwards, from the very Blood that flows on the ground, summoned many thorns that stabs Azi Dahaka.
[ Skill Attack: Sea of Blood Thorns ]
" Keurgk, kekekukukuk... " Azi Dahaka chuckles, even after the body is stabed with hundreds of Sharp Thorns.
" She's not f*king around. "
" She even dared to hurt her 'Fated One' with her own Blood, keke... " Azi Dahaka chuckles while Akafushi continues to stab him more and more.
" Rahhh! " Akafushi cries as she did this, so pissed over herself as she was weak from protecting Shiro.
...
( Months before. )
[ Thunder Mist Mountains, Sakura Forest. ]
" Will Master Yakujin ever be betrothed? " Akafushi asks herself while holding the 'Red Strings of Fate' item that still laid dormant at the time. For she never think to activate it.
" Well, I don't know if she's even ready... "
" For her attitude is getting wild and wilder each time she's in this Realm. " Akafushi says this in her travel.
" It's like for being a Spirit, I can freely travel anywhere now. "
" But... "
" I forgot, that none Living Person will see me with their naked eyes, unless they're actually able to. "
" But, I would still be scorned, despite my human appearance. "
" Especially, when alive, I am Hunted for my Blood Powers. "
" Hence, to escape the hands of the Masses, my family had to perform a 'Ritual' in order to make me a 'Spirit' back in the 'Land of Thunder' where we came from.
" Making me an Astral Figure, sacrificing my Mortal Flesh to escape them. "
" But... "
" After living as a Spirit, I grow tired... "
" I grow tired to only live to serve, serving Master Yakujin is... " Akafushi stops.
" I shouldn't say that. "
" But... " Akafushi sees the 'Red Strings' the one intended for Yakujin to find her match*.
" I also want to 'Mate' too. " Akafushi sobs, she was envious to Yakujin for this.
" Oh, you will betrothed! " a voice suddenly replies her, Akafushi startled as she sees it's source.
" Black Merchant!? " she sees Black Merchant come behind her.
" Hello... "
" Are you having a bad time, Akafushi? " the Merchant asks it, right after he appears.
( Later on. )
" I see... "
" So that's your actual 'Roots'... " Black Merchant says while offering some drink to Akafushi as they discuss it.
" No wonder you had the 'Access' in the first place, the access for Blood Power is not that simple, even for the strongest of creatures. "
" One needs to Master it for Thousands of Years or else born with it. "
" Which also takes Thousands of Generations to make that one to exist. " Black Merchant tells while drinking with Akafushi.
" That's why I had to be a Spirit. "
" For before meeting Yakujin's Great Grandmother, those who loved me, my relatives believed there will be no places for me to go in this world. "
" Hence, making me an 'Astral Figure' was the only choice. "
" For no one can see me when I used the 'Blood'... " Akafushi says this while sobbing.
" But you simply regret their decision for you, do you? " Black Merchant asks as he sees the 'Red String of Fate'.
" Or perhaps... "
" You regret it because as a Spirit, you miss all the joy in the World of Living, doesn't it? "
" Especially the joy of 'Love'. " Black Merchant says it which made Akafushi surprised while grippin over the 'Red String of Fate' item.
Black Merchant sees this, he smiles.
" The fact you've been holding it despite it was intended for your 'Master'. "
" Makes me more correct that you really wanted to know who your 'Fated One' is. " Black Merchant tells.
" Will I? " Akafushi asks while holding more into the Red String.
" I don't know... " Black Merchant tells her.
" The legends never told it could connect the dead with the living or such... "
" Perhaps you should do it, sometime... " Black Merchant recommends.
" And, when you find 'him'..., your 'Fated One'. "
" Make sure to always hold him dear... " Black Merchant advises.
...
( Years After, During the Day of Sacrifice Offering. )
Akafushi is wandering around the Sakura Forest, at evening.
" Black Merchant's right... " Akafushi says while suddenly remembered it.
She thought about this while holding the 'Red String' given by Yakujin's Elder.
" He's right, since it's in my hands... "
" Shouldn't I also use it... "
" For me... " Akafushi says as she immediately activates it.
The Red String immediately connects her, tied her with it as the string was connected.
" My 'Fated One' is near...! " Akafushi shouts happily.
" Where is he? who is he? " Akafushi wonders while in the other side.
[ Thunder Mist Mountains, around the Storm Sakura Forest Entrance. ]
Many men rise into the mountains, lifting a palanquin that had a young boy in it, whom the villagers prepared as an offering for the Great Chimera Master, Yakujin.
" The Shamans told us that the boy possessed the blood with the greatest delicacy to the Chimera. " said one of the men who carries the palanquin.
" The 'Sacrifice Lamb Blood', the Blood said could make every kind of Monsters, even the Hybrids into great ecstasy as they smell it. " said the other man.
" With this boy being offered, the Great Yakujin should able to withstand her hunger for ten years based on what the Shaman foretold us. "
" Hope that is true... "
" Right, brat! " the man says to the young sacrifice as he sits inside his palanquin, praying to himself as the Palanquin goes on.
The young sacrifice sleeps, while waiting to be taken to the Chimera Master, he didn't realized that an 'Invisible Red String' is tied to her hand and pinky finger.
________
Extra:
*... find her (Yakujin's) match.
This is reference from Chapter 34: Red String of Fate (1).
* You know who the 'Young Sacrifice' here, he who possesed the 'Sacrifice Lamb Blood'. Yes, the last part is the dialogue in Chapter 4: "The Kitsune's Lair".