Takemikazuchi Family

Chapter 3

The next morning Epyon got out of bed and was able to freshen up with the water he had left aside for himself for the morning. He first put on his clothes and then he equipped himself with his weapons, he made sure that he was not leaving anything behind before leaving the room and going downstairs to eat his breakfast. Since it was still early, he was able to find an empty table, when a waitress came to ask what he wanted to eat. Epyon told her to surprise him with the meal while giving her a kind smile. The waitress's cheeks turned pink as she heard the handsome man comment and a dreamy smile, as she went to get his order, which happens to be her favorite meal in the morning. 10 minutes later the waitress came back with his meal and placed it on the table then wished Epyon a good day, before she left to take care of another customer. He quickly ate his food and thought they did a good job in making it. After finishing his food he thanked the waitress and left her a few valis for her good work. So after he left the establishment in a good mood, as he made his way to the adventure guild. Epyon figures to wait near the entrance and hope to get lucky to find any of the familia members.

20 minutes later Epyon was able to find the guild Cassandra told him about, he found a nice view of the area he was able to sit and wait. After waiting for more than 2 hours he was beginning to stand out in the crowd, so he began to move in different places every half hour to an hour, so he wouldn't look suspicious. Epyon did the same routine a little past noon time and was going to give up on his plan and create a new one this time by gathering information. When he heard a few people arguing when he caught a lucky break, after waiting for more than 6 hours.

"Takemikazuchi-sama is counting on us to make enough currency to send back to the Far East. We have to try harder to help the shrine temple, to help all the orphans." Ouka said to a young beautiful girl with black hair and violet eyes and their other companions.

"Ouka we barely make enough currency for everyday living and the rest of it, Takemikazuchi-sama is saving it for an emergency. We are still too weak to go down any further in the dungeon, are you trying to get us all killed!" The violet eye girl said in a harsh tone, as they were making their way back to their home.

In the meanwhile, Epyon was following from a safe distance, he didn't want to startle the agitated group. He was able to catch bits and pieces of their conversation. Epyon could tell that they were hurting for currency, the fact that the girl acknowledged that they were weak was a good step forward for her development. From the little bit he heard he had a lot of respect for the small familia, since all they wanted to do was help their people back home. There is a small percentage of people from the Far East that try to help those less fortunate since it is constantly at war, and it doesn't help that the monsters were roaming free either. So, at any moment you were either at war with another clan or at war with a monster raid.

Epyon could tell that he and Bell would fit very well with this small familia, since he too has blood running through his veins that are from the Far East.

"Ouka-kun, just be patient, we will be able to help our fellow orphans when we are more stable, at this time Mikoto-chan is right." We could talk more about this later on, we are home. I hope Takemikazuchi-sama is home so we can give him the bad news we were told." Chigusa said as they calmly walked inside their temporary home.

When the group entered, they found Takemikazuchi-sama drinking tea with another god, his name is Miach-sama and his captain Naaza Erisus as they were talking. The two gods and the beast woman looked at who came in and saw that Familia's children had returned.

"Ahh sorry Takemikazuchi-sama we were told that no one but high-ranking adventurers are allowed to enter the dungeon. Supposedly an incident that has happened and they are not handing out missions, they are turning away all level 2 and below. The guild said they will inform all Familia's right away when the dungeon is allowed to be entered once again." Ouka explained the circumstances to his Takemikazuchi-sama

"I see, that is a shame better safe than sorry I rather not see my children get hurt or maybe killed. But don't worry, we got a request from my fellow god, to get some materials and ingredients from outside the walls of Orario. It's a little bit less what the guild would be offering but it is a favor from a fellow god, would that be ok with you all." Takemikazuchi told the members of his familia, in hopes for a favorable answer.

Hearing what their familia kami told them, it brightened their mood a little bit. They would go out to train their martial arts for a few hours, before going to the market to buy necessary items for their mission. They would ask Miach-sama if they would be able to donate at least three potions to them just in case if they don't use them then they would return them. Naaza immediately didn't want to agree to that, but her god told her that they were doing it as a favor and if not used they would return so no harm done. But suddenly they heard a voice speak to them, and everyone including the two gods heightened their awareness.

"Who's there! Show yourself stranger since we are not able to pick up your presence. Did you sneak inside my home to kill us?" Takemikazuchi said as he waited for a response, but he was truly shocked that someone was able to get inside his home. And not be seen or detected, by him or Miach was truly unnerving.

"My apologies, Takemikazuchi-sama. I meant no disrespect. I will be revealing myself, so please do not attack me." The voice said in a very respectful manner almost if this person came from the Far East.

"Very well you have my word, I Takemikazuchi sword god and god of thunder or my familia will not attack you." Takemikazuchi said as he got nods of agreement from everyone.

When Epyon deactivated his cloak special feature, he was on one knee and his fist holding a scroll near his heart., while keeping his head down. He began to hold out the scroll with both hands. Everyone had different reactions with the situation while most were in total shock, only the gods were more surprised to see someone just appear from thin air. The one thing everyone in their hearts could agree too, that if this man wanted them all dead, they wouldn't even know what happened to them.

Naaza, who is a beast man, felt that her pride had taken a huge blow because of the person in front of her. She was not able to smell him or hear him when he came into the living room where everyone could have assassinated her beloved god and she wouldn't have been able to do a thing. She resolved herself to attack the man in all-black, since she doesn't have to listen to Takemikazuchi-sama not being her god. Before she was able to, Miach placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head in a negative way. The last thing he wanted was for her to get killed by what he would definitely classify him as a master assassin.

Takemikazuchi understood what was happening since this was the way that clans would send top secret messages for no one to know. He knew right away that this shinobi had come from the Far East and had delivered a very important message to him. For someone to go that far knowing that the journey was a long one and dangerous was truly surprising. He got up from his seat and walked in front of the shinobi, he carefully grabbed it with both hands and bowed in respect in gratitude.

Once Takemikazuchi gave his gratitude, Epyon went back to his original position he appeared in. And waited for the god to finish the message and hoped that he would accept him into the familia. On the other hand, the rest of the familia in shocked to see a shinobi from the Far East here in Orario. They could only hope nothing bad had happened to their old home.

Takemikazuchi said as he began to untie the scroll and break the wax seal.

Takemikazuchi began to read the letter and noticed it was an introduction letter, but as he kept reading further down. His eyes began to get wider and wider, his heart began to pound uncontrollably, because by the time he finished reading it his eyes almost popped out of his head. Because at the bottom of the page was the name of Zeus telling him that this shinobi became the last living member of the Zeus familia that no one knew. Once he was able to get his composure back, he began to really wonder. Why his familia?

"Epyon Cranel I have read your introduction letter, but I have a question. Why choose me? There are other Familia's that are much stronger, and you would benefit from them."Takemikazuchi said, still startled to think logically before Epyon looked straight in the eyes to show his sincere honesty.

"My first reason was because the person that sent the scroll recommended you. The second reason you are a god from the Far East, from where I came from. And my final reason is because everyone in your familia is the same age as my nephew, who I came to get and have him join us if you accept me into your familia. He should be in Orario in a week or two. It will give me enough time to get accustomed to the city." Epyon said in a calm and collected manner.

In the meanwhile, the member of the familia couldn't believe that this person followed them from wherever he was and came inside their home. Not even their kami-sama was not able to notice him, and that was truly frightening. But that wasn't the most shocking part, it was his appearance, and knew right away where this man came from. Their world almost shattered when they heard their gods' next words, which almost pushed them over the edge.

"Epyon Cranel, I Takemikazuchi, the sword god and the god of thunder of the island of the Far East welcome you into my familia you may rise." Takemikazuchi said felt a little grateful to Zeus for sending him such a strong person to his familia.

Now he would have more peace of mind if someone truly strong is able to guide the younger familia member in the right direction, and maybe they will be able to get a place sooner than later. Now he had to complete the ritual by giving him his blessing. And to see what his level of strength was he was wielding.

Epyon stood up from his kneeling position, as both men bowed in respect in the Far East custom. Everyone just watched silently at this new development, who would've known that the same person that broke into the home of a god wanted to join his familia on the recommendation of another person. Now everyone was curious to see what level he was and felt a little relieved that they gained a strong familia member.

"Now we need to complete the contract. I need to bless you with my falna and to see what new gift or skill you will acquire. Would you like to go to the back room to complete the ritual?" Takemikazuchi asked as he waited for his answer.

"There is no need, it is better if everyone is here to know my status. It would be a huge hassle if I would have to explain it multiple times. This is better explaining it all in one shot and less lip service." Epyon said as he got bewildered looks, by his decision.

"Please then let us both move near the shrine I have over there and remove the top half of your outfit." Takemikazuchi said, getting a nod of acknowledgement from Epyon.

Epyon walked over to the place that his new god had indicated, then he sat on the floor cross legged and began to remove his haori. What everyone saw next made some take a sharp breath, why the girl gasped in shock at what they saw. The man's body was full of scars all over his body, and you were able to see multiple stab wounds in different parts as well. He also had tattoos on his back, chest area, his biceps, and his neck. Takemikazuchi then began the procedure on making him part of the Familia. Then he cut his finger and let a drop of his blood fall on his back. Most of the time a person would start to feel discomfort, when the blessing is being performed. But he didn't even make a noise or bat an eye, truly his pain tolerance must be off the scale. When he started to look at Epyon status, he almost fainted, he was not able to believe what he was seeing, Takemikazuchi thought he was in an Illusion.

Name: Epyon Cranel Age:17 Level: 7

Basic abilities: Strength: (771-B ) Endurance: (807-A) Dexterity: (821-A) Agility: (850-A) Magic: (701-B)

Development abilities: Strength: (701-B ) Endurance: (780-B) Dexterity: (790-B) Agility: (811-A) Magic: (615-C)

(Acrobatic-A) (Afterimage-B) (Assassin-A) (Abnormal Resistance-A) (Sword Master)

Magic: (Black Light Barrage) (Acceris Imbrem)

Skill: (Tempus Frigidug) (Shadow Clones) (Hiraishin) (Replication)

Takemikazuchi with lifeless eyes slowly grabbed the parchment and placed it on Epyon back bright glow was shown and Takemikazuchi traced it with his finger the status letters began to appear. He began to read the parchment once again in hopes his eyes were playing tricks on him. Takemikazuchi then began to chuckle, then it turned into an absurd type of laugh, then he began to laugh like he went insane before passing out. This ended up alarming everyone, because it was so unnatural of the situation that the member of the Takemikazuchi familia went into a complete panic.

Miach reached down and began to read the parchment as well with the status results. He read the parchment and when he finished it took minutes for his mind to process what he read before he passed out as well. This time Naaza who is always looking sleepy with droopy eyes, became alarmed as well and quickly went to her god side. She took the status sheet and tossed it to the side scared of it like it was poison, since it knocked out two gods. Then the question was asked by Mikoto when she asked Epyon

"Excuse me Epyon-san but why are people losing consciousness? Whenever someone reads your status sheet." Mikoto asked Epyon when to go pick up the sheet, toss it aside and read it. He realized that they hadn't seen his face, and since he was part of an actual family, he decided it would be ok, so he began to pull his mask off. And when he did it had the desired effect, he was hoping for it to have. All the females in the room's cheeks turned pink when they saw the handsome features of the young man. Mikoto heart skipped a beat since she never paid attention to the opposite sex till now.

"Let me introduce myself, my name is Epyon Cranel, I'm 17 years old, and I'm level 7." Epyon said as he gave them another gentle smile.

Bud-dump, bud-dump, bud-dump

All the ladies felt their chest, in Naaza's case she thought that the man was the enemy of all women. If their heart doesn't have the resolve to only be in love with their preferred person, then they would be doomed in this man's clutches.

"Wait, wait, wait, I think I speak for everyone here, and I might have misheard you. But did you say that your level 7, are you trying to prank us or something." Ouka said having a hard time believing this man.

"If you don't believe me, take a look for yourself. The status sheet doesn't lie." Epyon said as he handed the status sheet to Ouka.

"No wait!" Mikoto yelled out for Ouka to stop, but it was already too late.

Ouka began to read it and as he continued his eyes got wider and wider like the god, before they rolled in the back of his head. This time Epyon picked up the big man like nothing as Chigusa guided him to Ouka room and laid him on his bed and left.

When Epyon came back to the living room he asked his familia members if any of them wanted to see his status sheet. Everyone refuses by shaking their head in the negative. A half hour later everyone met up in the living room once again, but this time only the Takemikazuchi familia were the only one's present, since Miach and Naaza left with great urgency on the part of the captain. Takemikazuchi told Miach that he would explain in detail later in private, nodding to Takemikazuchi's request.

"Ok I have a few announcements to make first off Epyon Carnell will be the new executive captain. His order will be obeyed without questions." Takemikazuchi said as he looked at the members of his familia as he continued to speak. "Ouka-kun, I hope you are able to understand since he has a great knowledge when it comes to killing people, fighting monsters, and working in a team efficiently. He will be able to help you in actual battle inside the dungeon, where I'm not able to.

The second matter is that his nephew will be joining the Familia. His name is Bell Cranel, and he is only 14 years old, and he should be arriving in Orario in a week or two. Just so you are aware, his nephew has never met Epyon, because at that time his nephew was a newborn. The third thing we must figure out is the sleeping arrangements.

Does anyone have any questions? Or maybe they want to add something else?" Takemikazuchi asked as he looked at everyone in one of his familia.

"May I say a few things, Takemikazuchi-sama?" Epyon asked as he nodded in agreement.

"Ouka-san, you will still be in charge of the team when I'm not around. More than likely, I'll be venturing off on my own to the lower floors where I'm going to be practicing my new skill at the same time, I'm going to hunt for bigger prey to make more currency. But first I'm going to train with you in the dungeon on your teamwork. as soon as the ban on you guys is lifted. Since we are adding more members to your team, I'm sure your teamwork will be off and will need to practice formations to synchronize.

Takemikazuchi-sama and I will be teaching you different things. He will teach you how to use weapons, martial arts and skills. As for myself I'm going to train you how to be a squad to move in sync with our familia members. I'll be teaching tactics, spying, information gathering, disguising yourself and also how to get creative with your skills. As you continue to practice and gain experience you will see improvement and that will give you confidence. And all you need to do is to meditate to find your answer and believe in yourself before you truly become powerful by searching for your resolve. Once you're able to achieve this nothing will slow you down. When I was following you, I heard that you have a good cause to move to Orario to be able to send valis to the shrine temple to help all the orphans. I'm no hero or saint but I could respect your cause to help our people back home. As a fellow orphan I will donate 10,000 valis to send back to our motherland." Epyon said, shocking everyone in the familia.

"Epyon, are you sure about this? That is about as much as we made since moving from the Far East two years ago with the children."Takemikazuchi asked while he was feeling uneasy about taking someone else's money before joining the familia.

"Yes, I'm sure since I still have a lot more to spend to not make a big deal out of it ok." Epyon said in a good way.

"Let me give you my humble thanks to you, Epyon, that much will help our old home for a little while." Takemikazuchi said as he bowed in thanks, so did the rest of the familia.

"Hey stop that! It's embarrassing having all of you bow to me. My cheek is feeling itchy because of that." Epyon said as everyone laughed at his humble nature.

"Epyon, I know you just joined, and this is kind of a shame for me to ask but by how much currency do you have on you?" Takemikazuchi asked straightforwardly without hiding anything.

I have a lot but why don't you explain the situation better so I could get a better picture?" Epyon asked as he was thinking for him to get to his point.

"Well, you see Miach has a big debt he has been paying for a few years now. But the interest rate they are changing is almost the same as the monthly payment. In truth Miach is a very successful person and his family used to be larger, but they were from what the rumors say set up by the Rudra familia the only one that survived was Naaza the captain. In the incident she lost one of her arms and leg, when they finally rescued her, they were able to reattach her leg by using strong healing magic, but her arm was lost. Because she was his first member of the familia he didn't want her to be crippled with one arm. So, he decided to get her pathetic arm at all costs, in his desperation he was tricked and is barely able to keep up with his business and livelihood. I've been helping my fellow god on the low key to keep him from losing everything and Naaza-san turning into a slave." Takemikazuchi told of the extreme circumstance that Miach-Dono was in.

"So how much does Miach-sama owe?" Epyon said as he tried to figure out if he was going to have enough valis for their new place of residence he wanted to buy or make since there is plenty of land on the Eastern side of Orario.

"2 million valis is the amount they have left for debt." Takemikazuchi said as he waited for his reply.

"Sure, I could pay it off, but I would make a contract and go over some things with Miach-sama, but before we take care of their issues, we should take care of our familia problem first and that is space of living. Takemikazuchi-sama if you allow me. I would like to get or even make our base of operations for our familia. I'm sure our familia is going to be growing and getting new members in the near future." Epyon said as he waited for his god's answer.

"Epyon, would it be ok if I were to join you in the search for a place?" Mikoto asked, hoping he would let her go with him.

"Yeah sure, I don't see why not. I'm still new to town and you could show me around better now that it is daytime." Epyon said as Mikoto felt really happy to get a chance to be alone she could get to know him better.

"I think that would be a great idea, I'm sorry if I am troubling you with currency issues." Takemikazuchi said with some shame.

"Don't worry currency comes and goes like the wind. I'll be able to make it again in the future." Epyon said with a hint of humor in his voice.

Everyone listen up since we have acquired a new familia member we should go out to dinner what do you all say?" Takemikazuchi asked as he looked at every single one of his children.

"Yes!" was the unanimous answer from everyone including Epyon.

Since we still have time Epyon, would you care to spar with me!" Takemikazuchi asked as got a smile and nodded in return.

The Takemikazuchi familia decide to go to a training ground to see the abilities of their newest member. Once they got to the training arena all the familia expected for Epyon to be a good distance for their own safety.

"So, what would you prefer, hand to hand combat or weapons?" Takemikazuchi asked, from thin air a pair of swords appeared and got his answer.

Mikoto and Ouka were excited to see what a level 7 shinobi is able to do against their god.

"Only swords, I would like to see how I am able to fare against the sword god." Epyon said as Takemikazuchi smiled and nodded at the young man's request.

"You may attack whenever you are ready." Takemikazuchi said as he took a fighting stance.

Epyon stood for a minute and just watched his god and tried to gauge him, because he knew that this was going to be a tough battle. But he was going to find out if he has any weakness if he is able to exploit it. Epyon extended his arm out to the side when a sword suddenly appeared. He took a few practice wings to loosen up, before Epyon took a fighting stance. Neither of them moved a muscle as they had a silent conversation with his eyes. Suddenly Epyon rushed forward to get a feel of what is like to cross blades with a sword god. He wanted to analyze his opponent's fighting style, in hopes of finding a weakness.

Takemikazuchi was almost caught off guard by the speed they were crossing swords. They easily had over 50 sword clashes. For the first time in a long time, he was able to train with a mortal at full speed without accidentally killing them. Takemikazuchi was able to recognize a certain fighting style of a secret clan. The reason he knew this was because he was the one who taught them. And from what he could tell, he must have been a high member of the dark side. Takemikazuchi also could see how he had been adapting as they fought on. He started to notice that Epyon was actually analyzing his sword style and incorporated it while in battle. Takemikazuchi realized that the young man was actually learning as they exchanged swords; he was surely a prodigy from what he could see. He could only send his thanks to Zeus for sending such a person to help him out.

In the meanwhile, the people spectating was in aww. Both of the individuals were moving so fast they could barely see their sword clashes. I was the first they saw their god being pushed around, and from what they could see he was enjoying himself. Mikoto wishes she could do half of the things that Epyon was able to do. And hopefully he would be willing to teach her a different style, since they are both from the Far East. Epyon parried Takemikazuchi's attack to the side as he swung his sword at his neck while Takemikazuchi jumped to the side as he avoided the deadly swing. He quickly rushed forward to overwhelm the young man with a constant barrage of attacks to get him to give up.

"So, you're trying to overwhelm me, you must have gone awry with me if you are trying to finish the match." Epyon said his true goal was to cut him once then victory would be his.

"Ah, so you were able to figure out my plan so quickly. You have a good sense of battle. I'm glad you took the time to learn while we were crossing swords. Who taught you that way of learning? It is not easy to do, when you are in the heat of battle." Takemikazuchi said while both were rushing at one another and dodging while trying to draw first blood.

"No one taught me that it was something I could learn by only watching and I go. I noticed that if a battle was not going my way, switch tactics. It works for me if I put on the defensive, but for others either a slow or fast death might occur." Epyon said as he performed multiple moves to cut his god. Well, this has been fun, but you still need to go with Mikoto-chan to find a place or a plot of land for us." Takemikazuchi said reminding Epyon he has other errands to do.

"You're right my apologies, Takemikazuchi-sama, thank you for the match." Epyon said as he stopped suddenly and bowed to his new god.

"No worries child, we should have lunch, so everyone gets to know one another." Takemikazuchi said as his sword vanished as well.

"Can't argue with that, I could go for a bit to eat from that intense sword match." Epyon said as he followed Takemikazuchi out of the training area to meet up with the rest of the familia. On the way home they talk about the exciting match that they witnessed and skill Epyon was and that was only with the sword. That was not even the use of any of his skills, which made him a true monster in battle. When they got back home, the girls got together and began to prepare lunch for everyone when they had an enjoyable talk and got to know one another. And that is how they spent the rest of the afternoon.

A/N: Hello everyone I hope all of you are enjoying the story. I'm posting early since my birthday is on Saturday, maybe as a birthday gift some would review my story, I would definitely appreciate it. I've been working on chapter 4 at work. I hope to post it on Friday. I just wanted to let you, the reader, know about some things. Bell won't be showing up till chapter 25, that is when I'll be following Bell's journey with some changes of course. I have still not decided on Bell's pairing. They are Ais, Hestia, Lefiya, Syr and Eina. These are my choices. Takemikazuchi Familia will be getting their own large home with a big plot of land. I'm tweaking the Apollo arch and still haven't figured it out, but I have many chapters to go just in case. By the way if anyone is interested in someone wanting to Beta my story, please DM me!