*Content warning; mention of starvation, death, blood and gore (typical Demon Slayer things)*
You couldn't help the nerves that shook your body.
It was one thing to claim all that you did in the past few days.
But now that you stood in a vaguely familiar area surrounded in wisteria trees, the memories of your entrance to the world slammed to the forefront of your mind.
Convincing yourself that there was no turning back, you steeled yourself, looking ahead at where one black haired, and one white haired child stood. The grip on your two blades turning your knuckles white.
~~~
"You're ready to take the Final Selection"
You couldn't help but stumble at his words. Your eyes bugging out of your head as you steadied yourself.
"I am?" Your voice squeaked.
~~~
Their words only went in one ear and out the other.
~~~
Rengoku held your shoulders as he looked into your eyes. "(Y/N), I've watched you train for the past few days." He looked off to the side for a moment, his gaze no longer here with you. "After seeing how hard you train, and all of your forms, you're more than ready to take the Final Selection."
~~~
The other participants started to move in your peripheral vision and that kicked you out of your thoughts and sparked you to running into the forest behind them.
You swore you could feel your heartbeat in your throat as you slowly got further and further away from the wisterias. The darkness of the night seeping into your vision as you left the safety of the purple trees.
Rengoku's supportive words only a whisper in your mind as you rushed to what you believed was east of the mountain top.
Thankful for the cloudless night, it took less time than usual for your vision to adjust to the darkness.
Your footsteps were swift, and you kept yourself at a good running pace. No way did you want to wear yourself down the first night when you had to get through seven. That's also not taking into account the Demons lurking on the mountain as well.
Kocho had mentioned in passing that the Demons on the mountain were put there from previous Demon Slayers, and in your head you figured that there was bound to be many vengeful Demons out for blood.
It was probably close to fifteen minutes into your run when you finally came across your first Demon. You had spotted it a ways away from you with it's back facing you. At first, you had thought it to be another Slayer, but as the sounds of crunching filled your ears you did a double take.
Aside from it's humanoid shape, it had sharp like claws for fingers. The claws were drenched in fresh blood as it tore a chunk out of a still bleeding body from underneath it. It was this moment that you were glad to have become desensitized to such a gruesome sight (not the Demon eating a human, but the wound that was inflicted on your fellow Final Selection participant,) as it's sharper than normal teeth bit through the chunk of flesh like a hot knife to butter.
The Demon was so engrossed in stuffing it's face that it didn't notice you sneaking up on it until one of your blades sliced through it's neck. "How disgusting." The words slipped from your mouth as you watched the head tumble away from the Demon's body. There was blood smothered all over the Demon's face from it's meal. You swiftly kicked it's body in the opposite direction the head had landed to keep it from reconnecting with it, but that didn't matter as the body dissolved with your kick.
You kind of just stood there for a minute, the moment sinking in that you've finally 'faced' a Demon for the first time. Not once did you hesitate to remove the Demon. Looking down at your hands, they were trembling, and yet you didn't feel as nervous as you did before. Was it adrenalin? Were you just discovering that maybe you're an adrenalin junkie? You gazed past your hands and down at the one of the many casualties that was bound to happen these next few nights.
No, you were sturdy and sure of yourself as you clasped your hands together. You weren't an adrenalin junkie, you were glad to have rid this world of one of many Demons that terrorized everyone. You bowed your head in a bit of a prayer, just hoping that the potential Slayer didn't suffer in death and was able to pass on to their next life comfortably.
Not wasting any more time, you were speeding off once more. Staying by a still bleeding corpse was bound to attract more Demons. And despite dispatching your first ever one ever, you were sure that there were more aware and stronger Demons out there on the mountain top that would put up more of a fight.
Continuing your path, you skidded to a halt as a Demon lunged from the shadows trying to claw into your side. This one had horns protruding from their head and shoulders. It's eyes flickered around wildly and drool was practically gushing from it's mouth as it sniffed the air aggressively. "Food!" It's words came out as more of a screech as it continued to lunch at you. You made sure to never turn your back to is as you hopped away in tandem to avoid it's frenzied movements.
Taking a deep inhale, you hissed and an almost seeable breath emitted from your mouth. Your whole body tensed, for only a moment, and then you were gone from the Demon's sight. The Demon became only more frantic in it's motions as to figure out where you went.
In the darkness of the night, it's head spun to you as it caught the last bit of words you were saying. "-Form: Peizo's Strike." The Demon paused mid lunge as you quickly stroke the sides of your the blades together, creating a spark. It could only laugh at your actions, looking just as feral as when it first lunged at you. It cackled before seeing that the blades in your hands were now glowing red.
"Nothing you do will stop me from having a fresh meal!" Ignoring your blades, the Demon lurched forwards once more.
Faster than it could blink, you slashed your blades downwards, cutting off the Demon's outstretched arms. It screeched out as the sound of sizzling filled the air. Your blades were not just glowing for show. They were glowing because of the heat that was created from when you had hit the blades together at a blinding speed.
Your face screwed up at the smell of burning flesh. The light and friction created from the blinding speed you had used to hit your blades together had made them so hot that they glowed.
The Demon screamed out as you continued to move faster and faster. Not giving it even a moment to breath, one of your hot blades practically melted it's neck away. There was no blood spray this time, as your blade practically cauterized each cut it made.
Not giving it your time of night you sprinted off, your blades warm in your hands as you striked them together once more and continued to slice your way through each wild Demon that approached you that first night.
~~~
"Your blades..." Rengoku had asked you to have a look over your blades, as the way you fought similarly but not like Uzui had peaked his interest. And so he wanted to have a good look at your weapons of choice.
You fidgeted as he stared at them. Your hands itching to take them back, as they were a precious gift to you from Uzui. You had only relented in letting the retired Hashira look at them as he was the one currently helping you train for the Final Selection.
Rengoku lifted them up, letting the afternoon sun shine off them as his eyes wandered up and down the blade. "There's a hint of Scarlet Ore in the metal."
"... What?" Holding the swords blade handle first, he handed them back to you to sheath them.
"Scarlet Ore is the special ore that is used in making Ninchirin Swords, it's what helps us in slaying Demons without the sun being up." That... definitely made more sense to you now. You were curious as to how Demon Slayers were able to rid the infesting creatures.
His eyes were still staring at your blades that you were securing to your hips. "Who gave them to you? Was it Uzui?"
A smile graced your lips as you remembered the moment that Uzui practically shoved the two into your hands. "Yeah, brother gifted them to me once we found out I worked much better with two blades instead of one katana."
~~~
You had reached a small pond, and you couldn't have been more grateful for it. The sight of the water made you swallow. Yet, you stayed hidden in the tree line, letting your eyes scan the surrounding for anything out of place.
If there were any Demons smarter than the ones you quelled earlier, they would be waiting here to trap any human that would stop for a drink.
Luck must have been on your side though, as there were no disturbances that your eyes could see. Still, being as silent as you could, you made your way over. Cupping some water in one of your hands, you let yourself lean over to take a sip. Your other resting on the hilt of your Wakizashi.
The constant running that you've been doing was taxing, but if you hadn't done the training that you did with Uzui (and even the short amount of time with Rengoku) you probably wouldn't have gotten as far as you did. The glow and heat of your blades had died down probably around what you could guess was an hour ago. It was hard to maintain for longer than thirty minutes. Your body was tense and covered in sweat, and you were tempted to take a dip into the clear water of the pond. But you were in the middle of a test, and there was no way you were going to make yourself vulnerable to the Demons on the mountain.
Taking one last sip, you debated about staying by a source of water when the sound of flesh plunging into flesh met your ears.
Turning with your Yoroi-Doshi and Wakizashi drawn, your face was met with a splatter of blood.
It seems like there was another Demon Slayer candidate that had spotted you and the pond, but they weren't as careful as you were. That much was clear as a Demon had both their hands sticking through the head and chest of the guy.
Cursing yourself for lowering your guard (and in turn not noticing both the Slayer and the Demon,) you sprung to the side as the Demon pulled it's hands out of the guy only to pounce onto you next.
"You can't get away from me Marechi!" Its moves were just as wild as all the others that you've faced so far. The Demon didn't even pause in its pursuit to watch you.
The Demon didn't give you any time to waste as you quickly grabbed something from the ground. It squished in your hand, but you thanked Kocho in your head for giving you that book to read. "A mushroom like that won't do a thing to me!"
The Demon sounded cocky now, it's whole body trembling. "Give up now and I'll give you a peaceful death."
Your muscles tensed as you crushed the fungus in your hand before wiping it onto both of your blades.
Baring its teeth at you the Demon snarled at your insistent silence. "Have it your way then! You're dead meat!"
Inhaling a deep breath, and not letting your eyes falter from the Demon in front of you, you tensed your back and arms. The Demon only hearing the last of your words as it had to throw up it's arms in order to protect it's neck. "-Second form: Bioluminescent Wave."
With a speed that the Demon had never seen before, a wave of bright green glowing blades flowed from your weapons as your arms blurred from the speed of your slashes.
The glowing blades left wounds on the Demon that glowed just like them, leaving the Demon unable to hide in the dark. "How flambouyant! I'm glad that worked!" Your body was still tense as you swung your weapons around from left to right, top to bottom, not stopping to give the Demon a break.
Grunting, the Demon tried to side step your strikes, only to be met with another handful of glowing blades. "There's no way I'll miss you when you're like a glow in the dark target!" Despite your words, your arms were getting tired, using two of your breathing forms for the first time was really taking it's toll on you.
As the final glowing blade of yours separated the Demon's head from the rest of it's body, you slumped over, hands resting on your knees.
It felt as though your heart was pumping a mile a minute and was ready to pop out of your chest.
Your arms shook from the constant strain you just put them through.
Taking a deep breath and giving your body just a minute to stop shaking, you moved on from the pond. Stay there would never guarantee you any proper rest, especially not now that there was another fresh corpse bleeding out right beside it.
Swearing, Demons met their ends as they appeared and chased after you one by one. It was only when the sun began to rise after the first night were you able to get a moment of rest.
Although your arms were shaking from overuse, you climbed your way up a tree hoping in your mind that you would be able to take a quick nap off the ground. It wasn't ideal to sleep in the shade of the trees, but being off the ground and away from any chance encounters seemed like a much better idea.
The nap that you were looking forward too never happened. As as soon as you closed your eyes and your body relaxed, sleep alluded you.
You could close your eyes, but every time you did you were met with flashes of blood. The fresh memory of the blood that had poured out of the other Demon Slayer candidates. The faces of the Demons, feral and taunting. The blood that seeped out from your wounds as you hit the ground. Hands soaked in blood as you were elbow deep in Rengoku trying to save his life.
With a wince, you opened your eyes once more. Resting on the thick tree branch was probably the best you were going to get if you weren't going to be getting any sleep. The shade of the tree leaves would at least let your eyes rest better than being on the ground in direct sunlight.
A grumble met your ears and you could only look down at your stomach.
The water at the pond was great, but fighting all the Demons so far had made you rather hungry.
Letting out a sigh, you gave yourself a few more moments of rest. Not really closing your eyes, but resting them enough so that they wouldn't dry out and hinder your survival.
Hopping out of the tree, you began your search for food.
You didn't stay in one spot for too long, as to keep Demons off your trail once the moon rises.
During your hunt, you were extremely surprised to have spotted a rabbit.
~~~
"You are not allowed to bring anything with you aside from your weapon of choice."
Your mouth dropped open at that fact. "You're saying I can't even bring any food with me?"
Rengoku just continued to stare at you. "That's right! The Final Selection is all about survival of the fittest!" He picked up the book that the two of you had been going over for the past few days. Waving it around a little before lightly tapping it on your forehead. "Let's go over this book a few more times!"
You could only groan at his insistence.
~~~
As your speed gave you the advantage, and you scooped up the rabbit, you were reluctant to kill it. It struggled in your hands, flailing around trying its best to escape your grip.
The painful pinching of your stomach reminded you that if you didn't eat it now, there was no guarantee that you would find another rabbit, or other sources of food. You could only mumble an apology to it as you pierced right through it's head with your Yoroi-Doshi.
Your heart went out to it, thankful that you had something to eat, but sad that you still had to kill it to survive.
With a vague idea of how to prep a fresh kill, you got to work.
The first thing you did was try to drain as much blood out of it that you could. You've never had rabbit meat before, so you weren't too sure if having any part of it raw would be a good idea. As you let it rest against a low tree branch, you got to work in setting up a fire. There was an abundance of kindling, and you were so very lucky that it hadn't rained at all in the past few days. This meant you had many good pieces of dried wood to use.
Once you had the fire all set up, you began doing the best you could in skinning, and removing all the organs from the meat.
It wasn't pretty, but you let your mind wander as you cleaned it up the best that you could. Cooking it over a fire might take a while, but you should be able to split the meat into a few portions to last you at least three days if you only ate once a day.
By the time the rabbit was good enough for you to be called cooked (this was after you sliced open the fattest part with your Yoroi-Doshi and it was no longer pink,) the sun had begun it's decent into the second night of the Final Selection.
With food in one hand, and your shorter blade in the other, You kicked dirt over your fire to extinguish it. There was no way you were going to stick around here, the fire and meat would have lured the Demons to you. Looking at the rabbit meat in your hand, you realized you had no means of storing it unless you wanted to put it into the big pocket of your sweater...
No, but you guessed it would be better to eat it now then to let it go to waste if you accidentally dropped it while running.
The rabbit meat was neither delicious or disgusting. Without any seasoning it was bland, but the fact that this was your first meal in twenty four hours meant flavour didn't mean a thing to you. You didn't even realize how hungry you really were despite your stomach's grumbling til there was just a pile of bones left.
The sun was just above the horizon now and it was time for you to move on. Maybe you could find another source of water while you ran? You made sure to keep your eyes peeled for any source of water and food as you dashed back into the darkening woods.
You were lucky, and glad, that you had relented to Rengoku's words. Going through the book that Kocho had lent you with him had gotten you to familiarize yourself with all of the edible plants (ones that would not give you any weird symptoms upon consumption of course.)
Scouring the ground, you made sure to gather as many herbs you could hold in your pocket. It wasn't meat, or anything too filling, but gathering them for the next few days will definitely keep you dying from starvation.
The second night was just as busy as it was the first. It could be cause you learned better than to stop for long breaks, but you never gave any Demons a chance to catch you off guard.
Your blades, despite being told by Rengoku that they were forged with similar material as the chosen Ninchirin Swords, had not changed colour (outside of your forms.) Not while you were swinging them about.
~~~
"Ninchirin sword?" Was that the name they gave to the official weapons of Demon Slayers.
Rengoku only laughed at your still confused expression. "Normally they are forged with both Scarlet Ore and Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand."
You held a finger to your chin in thought. "Does that mean both materials are found in the sunlight?"
His expression only got brighter (you didn't know it could do that) as your words hit the mark. "You're one hundred percent correct! Both are pretty much bathed in sunlight all year round!"
That made a lot more sense now that you thought about it. Kocho, and the other girls of the Butterfly estate had told you how no ordinary weapons could really harm Demons. They mentioned how they would perish in sunlight. Weapons being made from material that soaked up the sun all year round would be bound to make the perfect weapons to inflict the permanent damage.
"That being said! Always aim for the neck!" The former Flame Hashira motioned across his own neck. Your body shivered at the thought, but only for a moment as you steeled yourself once more. This is what you had decided to do. "Ninchirin Swords are less effective when used to slash any other part of the body besides the neck. So be sure to aim for that any time you get an opening."
Nodding, you ingrained his words into your head. Spacing out only for a moment when Rengoku spoke up once more.
"Ninchirin Swords are also known as Colour Changing Katanas..." Both of your gazes went down to the blades strapped to your sides.
~~~
Your blades had yet to change colour, and the only reason you could think of was because you were not the original owner of them. Uzui had gifted them to you, and they also were only forged with half of the materials usually used for Ninchirin Blades.
This meant that you would be able to get and earn your own blades once you've passed this final Selection.
With more determination filling you up, you picked up your speed, running through the mountain top with ease, taking care of any Demon that crossed your path.
~~~~~
Your stomach pinched painfully as the moon began to rise on the fifth night and that wasn't even the worst of your worries.
The earlier cloudless sky was darkening faster than ever. Dark, heavy rain clouds clumped together as it started to rain down on you.
Even with your very well improved eyesight, without the moonlight and the added rain, it made it hard to make out the shapes between the trees.
You were caught off guard a few times by some desperate Demons, their nails had nicked your arms and face (fairly close to your eyes too) before you were able to rid yourself of them. Now you only had a few plants left in your pocket, and there was no way you were going to be able to pick out any more plants with the downpour.
The best out of your situation, was that the rain would wash away your scent and blood. Making it harder for Demons father away to track you.
Sighing heavily, you took cover under a tree. Taking out the last bit of medicinal plants that you did find, you chewed it up before slapping it over the worst of your injuries. You had cut a part of your pants to wrap around your arm to keep the paste on the wound.
You leaned your head back, almost closing your eyes for a moment before something darted across your vision.
Suddenly alert, you disregarded your condition. Focusing your eyes and ears to spot what it was that had caught your attention.
It was in that moment, it was as if the rain had suddenly stopped as a clawed hand reached through it and grabbed your throat.
One of your hands immediately went up to slice off the hand that gripped you. The Demon that had approached you fell back into the rain, seemingly fazing out of your sight. Keeping your back to the tree, your eyes darted around, doing your best to follow the Demon's movement.
An almost silent chuckle could be heard through the rain. It felt patronizing and only made you grip your blades tighter.
Another hand came out of the rain, but you were ready this time. Not cutting it off right away, you lunged to cut where the arm was connected to, and yet the hand and arm dropped without a sound.
Something was wrong.
This Demon is definitely different from the other ones you came across.
There was another laugh, but it was right by your ear this time.
"How amusing~" Your breath caught in your throat as the tree you were backed into moved.
Arms.
So many arms.
The Demon's arms, that you had once thought were branches, enclosed around you. Trapping you within it's grasp.
The arms wrapped around your whole body and squeezed you tightly.
Your eyes darted around in the darkness.
The Demon hummed as one of the many hands pulled off your makeshift gauze.
"What a delectable smell." You trembled as the Demon licked your wound. "A Marechi."
Disgusting, absolutely disgusting. This Demon was licking your arm like a damn lollipop. It wouldn't be long before it sunk it's teeth into it. It's arms were slowly constricting you, and you could feel your chest getting tight every time it's grip tightened.
How would would you be able to get out of this without the use of your arms? They were being held tight to your sides.
"I knew there would be a Marechi amongst the disgusting pests they leave to wander this mountain from time to time."
You couldn't even give any thought to what the Demon was saying. The only part of you that wasn't trapped were your feet. You didn't even know if you'd be able to do anything to get out.
With it's arms, now tight enough that you could no longer take deep breaths, it seemed to start to lift you. Your feet slowly leaving the ground.
Panicked, there was no way you were going to let it lift you in the air. You would be completely helpless without the ground beneath your feet. With no other choice, and probably the shallowest breath you could take, you bent your knees.
The Demon only laughed, amused at your actions. "Now what do you think you're doing?" It's words went in one ear and out the other. In it's amusement, it had loosened it's arms albeit only a small fraction, but it was enough for you.
Furious that this was going to be how you went out in this world. You could not accept that.
You twisted your arms, allowing the blades in them to sink into your legs a bit. The smell of the fresh blood caused the Demon to twitch. "Ahh~" It let out a moan at the scent. Your blood meddling with it's mind. You could practically imagine how much it was drooling past it's fangs.
Instead of devouring you right then and there, the Demon loosened it's arms even more, not enough for you to escape, but enough to give you the breathing room that you needed.
One of it's hands came around to grab the top of your head. "Just be a bit more patient Marechi, I just need to take you off the ground for a-"
Fueled by disgust and hatred for how it was handling you and treating you like some sort of precious live stock. You cut his hand off from your head and you spun on your heels.
It screeched out in pain, as you continued to spin.
With it's arms no longer snaking their way around you, you gave yourself more space to spin even faster. The blood on your blades drawing out winds of a glowing eerie blue in the dark night and rain. The sharp wind of glowing colour raised up like a tornado around you as you continued to spin. You mouth opened in a scream. "Get off of me!"
Your frustration outgrew your moves, the glowing tornado spilling wilding around you acting as both a shield and a double edged sword.
The sudden burst of speed and your uncontained emotions had thrown you off balance and landed you knocking into the tornado. Holding back the cries that wanted to escape you, you did your best to right yourself. Watching at the Demon finally stopped trying to find a way around your creation.
It snarled at you, and you can finally see it's whole being as the rain ceased with the clouds.
Moonlight finally shined down onto you and the sight that beheld you only made you want to throw up.
The Demon was massive. As big as a tree, with so many branch like arms hovering around to make a grab at you. You could see a few of it's arm's missing that must have been when you had first attacked it.
What you had thought were leaves on it's branches, were really pieces of cloth. Clothing that looked too small to have been anything that the Demon owned. Many outfits, probably from the many Demon Slayer candidates, were tied meticulously onto it's arms to give off the illusion that it was leaves.
Its head, or face, didn't stay in one place. It was practically the whole trunk with the way it's fanged mouth moved on it. It shifted from the center of the 'trunk' where it was level to where you stood, to the very top of its body. It hunched over and bared it's fangs once more hissing at you. "I'll get you just like I did all those other Slayers!" The Demon was definitely done playing games with you.
Your arms were starting to get numb, and you could only watch at your shield slowly dissipated into the ground, taking it's glow with it.
"Now you'll be mine!"
Your body froze in panic.
In that moment, it was as if time slowed down. Your eyes first darted to the hands reaching out to tear you apart. Then your gaze moved to it's mouth at the top of it's body.
If the 'trunk' of it's body was it's head, then that would mean...
Tenseness never leaving your body, you brought your blades together in a familiar movement. The bright spark lit up in the night, taking the Tree Demon off guard and causing it to flinch. At that, you sprung forth avoiding all of it's arms the best you could, as if you cold predict where they were going to grab at you.
"Be still you maggot!" It howled out at you as you looped around it's winding arms and slid to a stop at the base of it.
You gave it one of the hardest glares you've ever given anyone.
"Fuck you."
Your hot blades sunk into the base of the tree. It sizzled along as you pushed it through, cutting the 'trunk' of the Demon away from it's 'roots.'
It's arms flailed, smacking and tearing into your skin. It was doing it's hardest to pull you away from it. It pulled your leg out from under you and you fell just as your Wakizashi sliced through the last bit. Your body hit the ground painfully, your leg spasming for a moment before going numb. You cursed under your breath, watching the Tree Demon topple over and slowly disintegrate.
Wailing, the Tree Demon begged you to save it. You only scoffed at it, dragging yourself up and onto wobbly feet. "After how unflambouyantly you acted? You don't deserve to be saved." You resisted the sudden urge to spit on it, using your remaining energy to start to head down the mountain.
You estimated in your head, that by the time you made it to the wisteria trees, the last two nights would have passed. Looking down and assessing your injuries, yeah, you could say that it would take two more nights for you to get back. You went to take a deep relieved breath, only to choke on your spit in pain. You forgot that your ribs were broken from how hard the Tree Demon was constricting you.
Limping, you didn't dare to stop for a break at any tree this time. There was no way you were going to let your guard down knowing that there was something off with your blood that made Demons go into some sort of frenzy. It really explained why they looked kind of high when they attacked you the days before. A Marechi was it? You'll have to ask Kocho or Rengoku when you got back about what that meant. Or maybe Uzui if he was finally able to visit you at the Butterfly Estate.
The rest of the night was quiet. And the following two nights were the same as others. Your stomach felt like it was eating you inside out without food or water. Your broken ribs shifted around with each step, practically stabbing your lungs every time. Something felt weird in your leg, the same one that had a lingering pain while you were healing at the Butterfly estate.
You were, by some miracle, able to still defend yourself from approaching Demons. It seemed that your amassed injuries and being smeared in your own blood made them stumble around like drunks. Making it easier for you to wipe their heads cleanly from the rest of their bodies.
Doing your best to take as little breaks as possible in the last two nights. You caught sight of the wisterias at sunrise at the end of the seventh night. Tears threatened to fall, and you swore to yourself that you would beg Kocho to teach you more about her wisteria poison you had found her making one night.
Shuffling painfully slow through the tree line, your face paled at the sight of no one else but the two children in the clearing.
Was there no one else?
Not daring to sit down right there on the ground in fear that you wouldn't be able to get back up again, you stood in front of the two children. Keeping your body tense as to make sure you didn't flop to the dirt in exhaustion.
The clearing was silent, aside from your heavy breathing. Your body shivered as a few more minutes passed and no one else broke the tree line.
The two children set their eyes on you as the spoke.
"Welcome back." "Congratulations. I'm glad you are safe. "
Their eyes felt like they were piercing through your soul as you alone listened to them.
"First, we will provide your corps uniform. We will take your measurements and then engrave your rank."
"There are ten ranks. Kinoto, Hinoe, Hinoto, Tsuchinoe, Tsuchinoto, Kanoe, Mizunoe and Mizunoto. Right now, you are at the bottom rank of Mizunoto."
Well, you had to start somewhere, and you've finally passed the first step into goal and there was only one way left to go, and that was up.
You made sure to nod along with what they were saying. As you were really the only person to have survived this round of the Final Selection. The two deserved your undivided attention despite the splitting ache in your body.
"Today, you will choose the ore for your sword... or swords. The it will take up to two weeks for the blades to be finished." The white haired child must have noticed that you were using two blades instead of one.
"Then we will assign you a kasugai crow." You felt a bit sorry for the lone crow that flew down to you. You had no energy to lift your arm up to act as a perch for it. "Kasugai crows are generally used for communication, but not always." The crow landed itself onto your shoulder, you spared it only a glance before turning back to the two children, not wanting to miss anything.
The two moved over to a table that sat in the center of a torii.*
"Please choose the ore for making your swords. You choose for yourself, the ore for the sword that will kill Demons and protect you."
You let your eyes gaze over the many ores that were laid out on the table. You were half tempted to just pick one on a whim and book it out of there and head back to the estate. But you stopped yourself. This was an important part of becoming a Demon Slayer.
Looking down at your current blades, it made you sort of sad that you wouldn't be using them anymore. Picking and earning your own swords meant just as much as the ones at your hips.
Being careful with your next (sort-of) beep breath, you joined the two children at the table. You let yourself analyze what you could. You were no geologist, and never really liked rocks except for the pretty shiny ones you would find at the shore of a beach.
One of the ores sparkled from the corner of your eyes, and so you picked that one. It wasn't the smallest, it was actually quite large. The small glittering that you swore you could see in the ore was practically begging you to pick it.
At once, a few Kakushi appeared in the clearing. One held their hands out to you for you to place the ore you picked into them. You made sure to speak up as clearly as you could before they sprinted off. "Please make sure the smith makes a Yoroi-Doshi and a Wakizashi. I am a dual-wielder."
The remaining few Kakushi took your measurements while the other inscribed the back of your hand with your rank.
The two children from before were already gone, and you could feel your legs threaten to give out on you once more. One of the remaining Kakushi threw your arm over their shoulders, giving you a polite nod and acted as your crutch as you made your way back to the Butterfly Estate.
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*Torii: A torii is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine.
Taisho Secrets!
Let's get to some more Taisho Secrets!
- Think you can take a guess as to what Breathing Form that (Y/N) has taught herself?
- (Y/N) was to be able to tell that she could use her blood to her advantage against the Demons for the rest of the Final Selection process. It still confuses to her as to why the Demons act the way they do when it comes to her blood
- Originally, I wasn't going to give (Y/N) a chance to catch any food during the Final Selection. The idea that the Demons ate all the living creatures on the mountain top being one of the main reasons why.