"Its your turn now James, come here and put your hand on the pedestal." said the First Viscount.

Inside the pedestal lay a Mercurial Stone, the core of the Fel Awakening ceremony. Mercurial Stones were a rare stone capable of a.s.sisting devils in connecting with Dao. In actuality they were the heart of fel veins, however this knowledge would never be made public. They were h.o.a.rded by the Devil Emperor and Devil King powers. Only to be distributed to n.o.ble devils, with exemplary service, as a way to keep the commoners in check.

Anyone could practice devilry, however practicing after partic.i.p.ating in a ceremony allowed devils to cultivate with half the work and twice the effect.

For common devils to partic.i.p.ate in an fel awakened they would not only have to be very talented but sign a long contract of servitude to a n.o.ble devil. It was essentially slavery with another name as your cultivation resources, life, and death were all determined by these n.o.ble devils after you signed the contract. The only way to get out of these life-bound contracts was to serve them through completely to the letter, as were most devil deals.

Your word was your bond in the Abyss and devils did not take oaths or contracts lightly. They would encounter many difficulties if they became too strong too fast, no one was planning to dress up a bride for someone else.

When the devilry of these servants came close to being as strong as the devil behind the contract then they would be ruthlessly suppressed. Often given long menial tasks which made it very difficult to raise in devilry and having all devilry resources cut off.

Commoners who could not unlock a Dao using the ceremony would just slowly take in the ambient fel energies of the Abyss. They would take many more years to step into the path of devilry. These Devil Esquires would have to work hard if they wanted to make a name for themselves in the Abyss, and become an official n.o.ble devil recognized by an Empire.

James put his hand on the pedestal just like the devils before him. He was fully prepared for this moment. He had visualized it many times before in his head how he would attempt to break through to become a Devil Esquire. He attempted to feel for a Dao just like he was taught by his mother.

Time slowly trickled by as fel trickled through his veins. James continued to circulate with the Mercurial Stone as he was instructed with much difficulty. The fel energies were slow to budge, he still hadn"t felt a single Dao! It seemed the fel was not even compatible with James as he struggled desperately to absorb it into his veins.

He felt all eyes were on him as he was failing miserably at his fel awakening cermony. All his hopes and efforts would go to waste, as he became a laughing stock to the clan. Just as James was about to give up he finally felt the fel energies move faster. If before they were thin mists barely answering his call now they were a raging river. The fel energies flooded his entire circulatory system! So much power!

James had never felt such energies before! A grey light began to emit from his body as he floated in the air surrounded by the grey light. James felt a connection to this grey Dao, he felt it was perfect for him. An even stronger grey light began emitted from his eyes.

The strong energies flooded out of the stone for what seemed like an endless time to James, but it was only a brief moment in actuality. He felt he could get even closer to this grey Dao if he allowed the fel to fully concentrate in his eyes.

James flooded the raging fel into his eyes feeling closer and closer to that grey Dao. This wasn"t how he was taught to do the ceremony but it somehow felt right to him. After pa.s.sing the final hurdle absorbing the energies James could hold on no longer! Too much power! A strong grey light was emitting from the floating James eyes as he was looking to the ceiling embracing the fel.

James soon knew what Dao he had unlocked, it was Soul Dao. James heart dropped. All this power I felt from this grey Dao and its only Soul Dao. ~Soul Dao is useless to devils this poor young master is going to be tras.h.!.+~

He noticed his vision overflowing with information as his eyes flooded with the fel. He absorbed the last of the energies he could bear as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Gasps filled the air.

"Quickly an apothecary see to his wounds!" screamed the First Viscount.

"I can"t believe the patriarchs son unlocked such a trash Dao after taking in so much fel." said First Baron Thargrad.

"What a wastrel. So many resources used but only unlocking trash." said First Knight Allmar.

"What a trash Dao. All those resources prepared for him would be wasted. I vote we redistribute them to Mikael." repeated First Knight Allmar, Mikael"s father. It was a perfect time for him to fish for benefits for his son.

Though the Hudson devil clan was united against outsiders there still were internal struggles. Resources allocated in the Clan had to be earned. Everyone wanted the Hudson clan to grow stronger, but there was a big difference in who was growing in strength within a strong Hudson clan.

The Devil Ancestor allowed and encouraged infighting for benefits as long as it did not break the rules of the clan. He wanted his descendants to be ready to face the cruelty of the Abyss. If they couldn"t even fight for benefits inside the family, how could they hope to fight for benefits from other powers?

You might be questioning why the Elders were so disappointed at James unlocking Soul Dao. Souls seem mystical and awesome right? For races like humans, elves, and dwarfs that might very well may be true. Soul would be a great and unique Dao for them to practice.

You must remember though, our story is about a clan of devils! Elves lived in the forest and had a natural connection with Nature Daos. Mermaids lived in the sea and had a natural connection with Sea Daos.

Well Devils lived in the Abyss and had a natural connection with Soul Daos! Every devil dealt with tempting mortal souls, to have the Dao of Souls unlocked as a devil would be like having a Dao of Swimming as a fish.

It was utterly and completely useless to a Devil, they naturally understood souls well. The clan had no practical usage to have a devil that could deal with souls a wee bit better!

A strong mountainous oppressive presence descended upon the hall. All members of the Hudson Clan were at full alert feeling this presence. It was powerful, strong, and demanded respect. The aura of a devilry pract.i.tioner stronger than anyone who was currently in the hall.

The doors of the hall flung open. In the middle of the doorway stood a strong burly devil. His aura was rippling through the hall, everyone had their eyes on him as he walked in. This familiar face was known by everyone in the hall. They all quieted down, relaxed slightly, and knelt towards the mountainous devil.

"I see Devil Ancestor." said everyone in the hall obediently. All the devils had to show their due respect to the Devil Ancestor whenever he came around.

"Good good good, it looks like you all are filial still remembering how to greet your Devil Ancestor after so many years." said the burly devil with a smile.

The "Devil Ancestor" loved to have the glory and respect as a Devil Ancestor. Since they were a young n.o.ble clan his stature was not really befitting of a Devil Ancestor. Most Devil Ancestors were old, detached from their clans, or deceased however he was still a young devil br.i.m.m.i.n.g with vigor. In n.o.ble clans of higher status he wouldn"t even have the face to be known as an elder. However this was his Hudson clan, and he had to be given his due respect. Everyone obediently followed the frivolousness of their "Devil Ancestor".

"Why does he make us call him Devil Ancestor, it"s not like we aren"t all within three generations of him. Grandfather is too eccentric." said the Fourth Baron Kerzamoth as he put his head in his hand and signed.

First Viscount Vollmus laughed inwardly hearing this.

"I"m his son and I still have to refer to him respectfully as Devil Ancestor, he said it"s to promote an air of mystery around the Hudson clan." continued First Viscount Vollmus hoping to give his father a bit of face.

"Little Kerzamoth I still remember when you wet the bed and you want to make a quip about having to call me Devil Ancestor you unfilial brat." said the burly devil loudly.

The hall filled with laughter, to think the high and mighty Baron Kerzamoth used to wet the bed. After such a long ceremony the arrival of the "Devil Ancestor" definitely improved everyones mood with his presence. Baron Kerzamoth wished he could hide his head under the nearest rock! ~Why would you say that in the middle of the clan ceremony grandfather!~

"Tisk tisk tisk, to think one of my descendants would encounter difficulties unlocking a simple Soul Dao affinity." said the burly man solemnly.

"I"ll take him back to my abode and treat him to ensure he has no lasting injuries." said the burly man as he looked with care over the unconscious James.

"I found spies outside, so I"m locking down the awakening hall. [Mountain Shadow] will search everyone to ensure no recording devices were present. All descendants present will have to swear a devil oath to never speak of the events that transpired today." The burly devil said with conviction. Though he lightened the atmosphere with a joke, the Devil Ancestor was quick to cut into the issue at hand quickly.

Everyone was searched, had their devil heart oaths taken, and gradually exited the hall. Eventually the only ones left were the unconscious James, the burly devil, and members of [Mountain Shadow].

"It"s finally time... for my Hudson Devil Estate to rise!" whispered the burly devil with glee as he grabbed the Mercurial Stone that swiftly crumbled in his hand and replaced it with another one that looked identical.

"James really unlocked an inborn ability with his Dao awakening. The Abyss wants to see my Hudson clan rise! Whatever ability he unlocked should be pretty amazing considering all the fel he absorbed from that Mercurial Stone. None of my descendants should be privy to what really happened, inborn abilities are pretty rare."

"Even with a simple Soul Dao Jame"s path in devilry will be remarkable. I can"t wait to see his progress. His future prospects are possibly beyond my own, with such a strong talent. I"ll have to keep this little gem hidden. Ha ha, it"s great he got Soul Dao generally considered as trash across low level n.o.ble clans. No one will bat an eye at James."

I only have a little understand on how inborn abilities work from the information left behind in my Blacksmith Inheritance; it said the person fated to unlock an inborn ability had a chance to unlock one when connecting with Daos.

We"ll let everyone think James is trash, thats definitely the best as to protect him. I will personally train him under the guise of his "recovery from qi-deviation". If word got out my Hudson clan had such a talented seedling our peaceful days would quickly come to an end.

"[Mountain Shadow] dismissed, handle this spy situation accordingly. I want my Hudson Devil Estate cleaned up." Screamed the Devil Ancestor.

"Jail all suspected internal spies and traitors immediately and get me a detailed report of their other crimes. I can"t believe some of the third generation would be that stupid to take kick backs from other powers to spy on their own flesh and blood while instigating internal strife. All this nice meat here on our Estate to devour why eat such tainted soup from outside powers."

"Do they foolishly believe if the Hudson Devil Estate falls from their foolish actions that they"d be welcomed with open arms to another n.o.ble devil clan instead of being swiftly executed for a job well done? They probably think that our clan is too big to fail and that their kick backs are helping their factions, but they are only digging at the very roots of our clans foundation with such reckless actions."

"Flowers that grow up in greenhouses don"t know the terror of the wind and the rain." said the burly devil with a hint of melancholy as he disappeared with the unconscious youth in his arms.