The Festival of New Blood was a holiday celebrated in the City of the Lost on the sixth day of the first month of summer, at the same time the Empire celebrates the Chrysanthemum Festival. All the youths that had reached gempukku last year, were given a daisho and swore fealty to their masters. Then, in the company of more experienced warriors, they embarked in a hunting trip across the Shadowlands, killing all manner of wild creatures. The best three warriors were chosen, receiving the name of the Legion of New Blood.