"Greetings everyone, thank you all for joining the final selection tonight. There are a lot of demons held captive on this mountain, brought back by demon slayers and they are unable to leave"
"From the mountain foot to half way up, there is demon repelling wisteria. However, from here on out, there are no wisteria — only demons."
"If you can survive seven days then you pass the final selection. Now, let the final selection begin."
As soon as she uttered those words, everyone rushed through the gate.
The one in the lead was Sanemi, its expected with his story, having his own mother turned to a demon and being forced to kill her with his own hands. In addition to that, he has rare blood which is a delicacy to demons, equivalent to consuming fifty humans.
So yeah, he has a pretty nasty grudge against all of them. And I'm going to use him as bait to kill some demons of my own.
After a short while of running up the mountain, I had followed Sanemi discreetly, reaching quite the distance without encountering any demons.
"Argh! Where are you hideous demons!"
He started to grow impatient after not encountering any demons, pulling up his sleeve and bringing the blade to his forearm.
("Is he going to cut himself?")
He gashed his arm open, dripping blood onto the soil intentionally, trying to lure in demons.
I lurked behind a tree watching him stand there, welcoming demons with his rare blood.
I thought I was getting away unnoticed but I guess not…
He snapped his head in my direction, "Hey you! What do you think you're doing following me? If you're that scared you should have stayed at home!"
"Tsk he found me."
"I'm not following you, I just thought you were interesting, I've never seen anyone use their own blood to lure in demons."
I had to act oblivious, if I said I already knew about his rare blood, he would get suspicious. Not that there's anything to be suspicious about.
"You're clearly following me! The demons are attracted to my blood, so unless you want to die a pitiful death, I suggest you leave."
"Um… it seems it's too late now."
While we were conversing, two demons began approaching us. They had caught a whiff of his blood.
The pair both looked like bog standard demons with no special demon art, however their bloodlust was tangible.
After being starved in this forest and only having an opportunity to eat once a year, they were already driven to the brink of madness due to starvation.
"Ohhh… rare blood, I haven't eaten in so long! When I eat this kid, no-one in this forest will look down on me anymore." The demon growled with bloodshot eyes and veins pulsating around his whole body.
"Shut up! You take the other brat, the rare blooded one is mine!" Barked a brawny bald headed demon with a hammer like fist.
"Finally these bastards are here!"
The duo simultaneously ran at Sanemi with a pincer formation.
"Hahaha! I can't wait to devour his flesh!"
"So these guys are just gonna forget about me?"
Sanemi flashed his sword in response to the demons but before he could swing the nichirn blade, I cut him off.
I leapt in a straight line in front of Sanemi weaving my blade through the air.
With two clean consecutive slices, I cut the necks off the demons before they even had a chance to react.
Blinded by tunnel vision, they ended giving up their necks, crumbling as their decapitated heads hit the ground.
I breathed out with a sigh of relief, "Haah. These demons are weaker than I thought."
I swung my sword downwards, flinging the blood off and sheathed my katana.
But then I saw Sanemi sprint to me with the meanest glare you could imagine.
He marched up to me grabbed me by the collar with a stiff grip and gritted his teeth in frustration.
"Listen here! I don't need your help! So don't steal my kills! And stop following me!"
I put my hands up in concession and turned my head away.
"Look, I hate demons just as much as you. But if you want to kill them, all you had to do was cut their necks before me, if you're even strong enough." I said with a smirk.
"What did you you say you bastard!" He snarled, shoving me away.
I landed on the ground kicking up dirt as my bottom hit the floor.
And when I got up,- he already left, dashing away into the darkness of the forest.
"Sigh… He ended up running away from me."
Well I guess I had enough fun, I wanted to get on his good side but his personality is too brash so I couldn't help but tease him.
After my brief encounter with Sanemi I decided against following him, dealing with his personality is not worth the extra experience I can gain from killing the demons he lures in.
The night passed and I spent the day resting and when night fell again, I actively went out searching for demons to hunt.
"Aaah! Please someone save me!"
When I heard someone shriek for help I rushed over, I haven't seen a demon this night so I was really excited.
But by the time I made it I was already too late.
Claws flashed towards the neck of a fellow examinee.
"Shit! I can't reach him in time!"
I launched my katana with precision, it whistled through the air before pinning the demons arm into the tree.
"Argh! Which maggot threw that?!"
I charged forward in order to retrieve my weapon but I noticed something from the corner of my eye.
There was another demon creeping behind a tree , darting out towards the boy as he tried to scramble away.
"Watch out!"
In the blink of an eye, the hideous creature sprung out, aiming for the frightened kid a blade like protrusion formed out from it's elbow.
Without time to yank the katana from the tree, I ignored the demon, still struggling to dislodge my katana.
I rushed to leap between the boy and the attack of the other demon, using myself as a protective shield.
( Man I really didn't want to die but if it means saving someone — I'll do it, I
know I'll come back anyways)
However before I was skewered, the demon abruptly stopped in his tracks.
A gentle breeze carrying the concentrated scent of wisteria blew across me and the demons face grimaced before he writhed in pain and collapsed.
I landed a few meters away and before I knew it, two heads had already dropped to the floor, disintegrating into ash.
"Don't worry, I used a wisteria poison on the poor demons." A voice comforted the trembling boy in front of her.
Her black hair fluttered and her pale violet eyes faintly glimmered in the moonlight.
The young man who was just on the floor trying to crawl away, was both frightened and blushing, thanking the girl in front of him.
I had already gotten up and stood there awkwardly, watching the scene unfold in front of me.
"T-thank you so much!"
Kanae Kocho leaned over and extended her hand out.
"Are you alright? You don't need to be afraid anymore, I put those demons out of their misery."
"Oh yes, I-I'm fine."
The flustered boy took her hand and brought himself up.
I guess he forgot the fact I was going to sacrifice myself for him, although I won't take it personally since I was probably going to return by death.
Sigh, there's no reason for me to stay here any longer, so I pulled my katana out from the trunk of the tree and began to walk away.
"Wait!"
Huh? Why is she calling out to me?
I paused, glancing back, looking at the slightly disgruntled expression on her face.
"You were going to sacrifice yourself to save him weren't you?"
"Uhh… not really, I just wanted to kill the demon."
While it's true that I did want to save him, my main goal was to kill the demon. And I'm not really that afraid of death anymore.
"There's no need to lie, I can tell you have a kind soul. You were willing to put your life on the line. But you need to be more considerate of yourself."
"Thanks for the suggestion but I don't need your advice."
And so I left, continuing my search for demons.
It really left me annoyed that I had to be saved even though I could've handled those demons easily on my own.
Each night fell one after the other, I was able to kill twelve more demons in the forest but none of them had anything special. I thought of the possibility of fighting demons on the same calibre as the hand demon but I guess it wouldnt make sense for that level of demon to be common in an entry exam.
Speaking of the hand demon, I thought I would come across him but since the forest is vast, it wasn't likely that I would encounter it.
And eventually after the seventh night, I descended the mountain, the sun began to peer over the horizon.
I walked back to the foot of the mountain, looking only slightly disheveled.
As expected, the amount of people had dwindled a lot, with only half the contestants surviving.
I don't know whether it was because they were skilled or because they had the fortune of completing the exam with two future hashiras.
I'm assuming it's the latter.
"Welcome back. Congratulations on passing the final selection." Amane Ubayashiki said with a monotone voice.
"So when can I hunt demons?" Sanemi interjected.
"You can hunt demons when you receive missions."
"But in order to do so, you must first get your blades and your uniforms. You will get your body measured and have your rank engraved."
"There are ten ranks in total : Mizunoto, Mizunoe, Kanoto, Kanoe, Tsuchinoto,Tsuchinoe, Hinoto, Hinoe, Kinoto and finally, Kinoe. You are now at the lowest rank — Mizunoto."
"So how can I get missions and my blade?", Sanemi asked impatiently.
"Today, you will each choose a chunk of tamahagane alloy. Your blade will be completed in ten to fifteen days. Also, from now on, Kasugaigarasu will be following you all."
At the mention of the crows, they fluttered down, landing on all of the people present.
"Please go over there and choose the alloy that will be used to destroy demons and protect yourself."
I walked up to the table with the crow perched atop my shoulder.
On the table there were rocks speckled with shiny raw metal, naturally I chose the shiniest one.
After the entire inauguration process ended, I began my long journey home.
…
"Kousei you're finally home! Where have you been all this time?! Me and my wife have been worried sick!"
"Old man Toji? Did I forget to tell you I was leaving?"
"So you just left without telling anyone? And why do you have a katana?!"
After explaining to him that I simply went on a journey to find a 'job' and that I happened across this katana by chance, he reluctantly accepted my vague explanation.
Of course, I couldn't tell him I joined the demon slayer corps, I'm not sure he would even believe it exists.
Anyways, after I settled back home, I started working on the paddy again for probably, the last few times.
I wanted to soak in my final few moments of peace, before I officially become a demon slayer.
While I was working on the paddies a few days later, I heard bells jingling as a man in a strange red mask that had a pouting face, walked along the path to my home.
"I have a delivery for Kousei Hayashi."
"That's me!"
"Kousei you have a delivery?!" One of the fellow farmers asked.
"You were able to get a delivery all the way out here?"
"Don't worry guys it's nothing special."
I went up to the masked man, his face was wrapped around with cloth, wind chimes dangled from his straw hat.
"Uhh… sorry for making you travel so far."
I lead him towards my home but he continued in silence until we reached the front door.
"My name is Haganezuka. I am the one who forged the blade that you will use to hunt demons."
Seriously?! What are the chances I get Haganezuka! The same blacksmith as Tanjiro.
"Um… please come in and have a seat"
He began kneeling down inside my house, unwrapping the wooden box that contained the blade covered by a white cloth.
"This is the nichirin blade, the mountain the materials are from, the sunlight mountain, is bathed in sunlight all year round, never troubled by clouds or rain."
"That's cool."
"You're the first kid I've delivered to who doesn't have a cultivator. Do you know how long this journey is."
"Sorry about that."
After what felt like an eternity, he handed me the blade, kept in its scabbard.
"Alright try pull the blade out. The other name for this, is the blade of colour change. The blade changes colour based on the individual owner, judging by your green hair it will probably be green."
Under the intense gaze of Hagenezuka, I began to unsheathe the blade from its scabbard.
Once I pulled it out completely, I pointed it upwards, the sheen of dark forest green began trailing up the blade.
"So it was green! you brat! I travelled this entire distance just for a dull green blade!"
He began to pull my ears and scuffle with me.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! But didn't you say you already knew it was going to be green? Why are you getting angry now?!"
"It doesn't matter! I'm still angry about the fact you made me travel all this way!"
Eventually after dealing with his long list of complaints, he left and I was left alone in my house with my new green blade.
"So I can finally start hunting some demons huh."