Argentum: I honestly can't help but continue to write this story. Especially since I have this entire arc already thought through.

Grel'Slyfer: How wonderful.

Kyojuro: Yosh! Sounds good to me!

Shadow: Yeah yeah… personally I just want to see you use breathing techniques on Grel.

Grel'Slyfer: Oi…

Tanjiro: You are an evil being…

Grel'Slyfer: I know but there's no reason to be rude about it.

Argentum: Ugh… you know what moving on! This chapter is short because it is more of a transitory chapter.

Shadow: Yeah not much too really point out as everyone is training. Next chapter will be a bit longer, but only because of a little more character interaction.

Tanjiro: Kind of like my own training arc actually.

Shadow: Yeah that was done rather well in my opinion.

Argentum: Agreed… though now I actually have a question to all of you readers!

Shadow: This is why I am here! Now then the questions are as follows… first does anyone know what the sixth, seventh, and eighth flame breathing forms are? We tried looking for them but failed. Second question is if you would care if we made up our own forms if they are simply unknown. If we hear nothing back from anyone we'll probably just make them up.

Argentum: Thank you Shadow! Now with nothing else left to discuss here… Tanjiro! As the newest guest here, mind finishing starting us off despite not being in this chapter physically?

Tanjiro: That's an odd way to put it… but sure! The Dark Guard productions own nothing but original characters and reality building concepts. Everything else belongs to their respective owners. Now without further delay…

Everyone: Here's the story!

Hello= Regular talk

Hello= Thoughts

[Hello]= Radio

(Hello)= Telepathy/Mind reading

Chapter Fifteen: How I stressed myself out or… How I tried to blow up a gourd…

It's been a couple of months now… and my techniques and my mastery of the first four forms had been going well. Even learned about the fifth form Go no kata Enko. Or fifth form flame tiger. This one we interesting in that it was a long ranged attack. It worked by slashing a number of times in such a pattern, that the flames turns into a tiger that swiftly charges the enemy. Currently I was having trouble with both the fourth and fifth form the most. Oh on a side note my study of Japanese was going rather well. Judan's translation spell was brilliant in that sense. Made me want to ask him how to do it the next time we met.

The way it worked was that whenever I learn a new word in Japanese, and I mean truly learn it. From then on I would only hear that word in Japanese. There were a few more rules on how it worked, such as technique names, unique names, honorifics, and people names. But that's pretty much how it worked.

I was also introduced to the Kasugai crows. Talking black birds that delivered both orders out on the field, while also delivering letters. It was how I've been able to keep in touch with my girls. They seemed to be doing well… and were also making me jealous of them. Turns out that they both have, while still strict teachers, much nicer ones. For example Eris was training alongside some blonde kid who called their master gramps. Their teacher allowed both of them to call him that. Though based on what Eris has said I wanted to strangle the blonde named Agatsuma Zenitsu. Apparently he kept on trying to get her to marry him.

I almost ripped that letter in half when I read it. As for Cassandra she was training alongside a rather polite boy named Kamado Tanjiro. Just thinking of the kid made me pity him. He started training on the insistence of the current water Hashira Tomioka Giyu. However he only did so because his whole family was murdered by a demon. He still had a younger sister name Nezuko, but Cassandra said she was in a coma and wouldn't wake up. Apparently he had been training for two months before we had arrived. So it was nice to have someone to train with. But what truly made me jealous of both of them was their schedule… and no I don't mean when they wake up or go to bed. I mean how they were given a year and ten months!

That was six more months than what I had! Freaking Shinjurō not being like Sakonji, and Jigoro! Shaking my head I went back to practicing my forms. My lungs could now properly utilize the Honō no kokyū, or the flame breathing style for thirty minutes. Much longer than what it used to be… which was about ten seconds before my lungs burned. But it was nowhere near where I was going to need to be. Apparently I needed to get my Zen Shūchū no Kokyū or total concentration breathing. Up to the level where I could use Zen Shūchū Jōchū, or total concentration constant. I had only fourteen months to do so.

Will I even be able to make it? Shaking my head I continued to breathe and swing my blade with fervor. NO! Kyojuro said I could do it as long as I kept at it! And I will not let him down! I won't let anyone down! I was trying my absolute hardest to keep on going. My hands were now covered in welts and blisters. Callousing as I keep on swinging. Honestly the first three forms were very straight forward. Though even with those I hadn't quite mastered them yet. But I was able to produce some flames now while utilizing them in combat. Besides that my physical abilities have skyrocketed. Turns out that breathing correctly really does help.

Taking a moment to crack my neck I tried to once more use the fourth form. "Shi no kata Sei En no Uneri!" Or fourth Form Blooming Flame Undulation as I now knew in English. Once again I was able to produce some flames but I failed halfway through. It was always the top part of the circular swing I messed up on. Shaking my head I decided to work on the fourth form for the day. Already having been beaten to a pulp by Shinjurō I was left to my own devices. Him saying that he had shown me how to do the forms, now it was up to me to master them.

I knew it was going to be a work in progress… and I was thankful for the fourteen months I still had left. I would've asked for more help from Kyojuro, but he was still out doing his duties. Besides that I didn't want to completely rely on him for everything. Looking down at my white kimono top I smiled. He had already done much for me and I felt bad asking him for more. Shaking my head I couldn't help but look at the flame lining the bottom of my top. When I moved they seemed almost alive. I of course added in my own little flare in the form of enchantments, having learned a few from my coat and previous shirt.

Thankfully my black pants and boots were still in good condition so I kept wearing them. Did have to learn how to sew though… had no one else around to fix them for me.

Refocusing myself I was about to go back to practicing when I heard the door open. Turning to the sound I saw Senjurō, in his hands was his sized down wooden nagamaki. A strange weapon with a long three foot handle and a katana blade on its top. Turned out Senjuro was fairly good with the sword spear. Over the two months I had spent here I had grown quite close to the kid. Not only was he smart, but also kind to a T.

Deciding to see what he might want I put my training on hold. "Yo! Anything you need?" Nodding his head he walked into the dojo while closing the door.

"Yeah… seeing how Nii Sama is still busy I was wondering if we could spar? I still want to refine a lot of my moves." I nodded my head in understanding, for despite making a branch off of flame breathing. Senjurō's scorch breathing or Sukkochi no Kokyu was still a completely new thing.

"Sure! I don't mind helping you out, could use a break from failing my forms for a moment." He gave me a sad smile, but decided not to comment. Instead he waited for me to grab a wooden Tachi, the closest thing there was to my Dandao, and then got into a ready stance. I knew I was stronger and much faster, being older and having trained for longer. So I held back as I struck forward. Senjurō despite not being able to use regular flame breathing, or even a regular sword. Was learning very quickly, his prowess rising every time we sparred.

Heh… Senjurō is honestly starting to feel like he's also my younger brother. Going easy on the kid I decided to only keep to basic Zen Shūchū no Kokyū. No fancy flames or moves that could burn off some of his hair and eyebrows. After a bit of sparring Senjurō asked me a question that got me to pause.

"So… I've been meaning to ask. But why are white streaks appearing in your hair lately? If you don't want to answer that's fine but I am curious." My pause almost let him hit me in the face, but I was able to deflect the attack at the last moment.

White streaks? What is he talking about? Times like this made me wish I packed a mirror. There wasn't one in the bathroom, and I didn't have one in my room. As for my hair I've mostly ignore it, I even started to brush it behind my ears with how long it was getting. But I hadn't noticed any white streaks.

Senjurō must've seen my confusion because he stopped the fight. "Here I'll go grab a mirror to show you." Putting his weapon down he ran off as I grabbed some of my hair. Bringing as much as I could to in front of my eyes I saw that there was some white, though I couldn't see too much. Eventually Senjuro made it back and handed me a handheld mirror. Thanking him I looked myself over. My hair was much longer than I liked, and now full on black. Not a speck of brown could be seen… however in its place were a lot of small patches of white.

I couldn't help but blink and comment about that. "Huh… I think I'm starting to go through Marie Antoinette syndrome…" I couldn't quite say anything else about my predicament. Senjuro however just seemed confused so I explained to him what I meant. "To just simplify it, Marie Antoinette syndrome is the process in which your hair turns white from stress. Apparently it was named after said Marie Antoinette as she awaited her own beheading. Some say the stress turned her blonde hair white. Though not much research has been put into it, there is proof in to the old legend." The kid was now looking at me in worry. "No don't do that! I'll be fine I swear! No negative side effects will occur even if all my hair turns white."

Senjuro sighed while shaking his head. "I still feel slightly responsible… Otou Sama is really pushing you to your limit, and I haven't been able to convince him to go easy on you." I smiled softly at the kid before ruffling his hair. "HEY!" Laughing a bit I decided to give him some words of comfort.

"It's not your fault… in fact it's not even your Otou Sama's entire fault. No it's just me stressing over not only trying to complete my training, but also my two girls… I can't help but worry about those two being so far away from me." He nodded in understanding having already known about my relationships beforehand. Even told me that the sound Hashira had three wives! Now that brought me some comfort in knowing that I wasn't an outlier in the corps. "So don't stress yourself now! I'm simply just thinking too much." He was silent for a moment before giving out an airy sigh.

"Heh you really are like Nii Sama sometimes. Just don't try and stress yourself out too much more okay?" I nodded before bringing up my wooden blade with a smirk.

"Ready to continue kid?" Grinning he brought back out his own wooden blade and charged me. No warning, no preparation, just a surprise attack. "Hey!" Even though I blocked it I couldn't help but yell in some shock. Senjuro only laughed as I narrowed my eyes on him. "Oh that's the way it is eh? Well bring it on kid!" And so our spar continued for the rest of the evening.

Live large! Break the line with a blazing soul! So says I the line break!

It has been another two months since my talk with Senjuro. I was now able to keep up my Honō no kokyū for an hour now. According to Kyojuro this was actually pretty good progress for a newbie. But now I only had a year left. I knew I needed to step up my game… if I was going to master Zen Shūchū Jōchū then I needed to go about this another way. Thinking on everything that I could do I thought back on my forms.

Hmm… the first three aren't really a problem to perform anymore… just need more training for that now. I've finally gotten a hang of the fourth form last week… but the fifth is still giving me trouble. Turns out my problem with the fifth form were that I wasn't strong enough yet. Shinjuro also refused to teach me anything else until I mastered the fifth. He hadn't even sparred with me since my mastery of the third form. Trying to look it at from a different angle I took out my adventures card. It was doing exactly like Judan said it would. There's got to be another way for me to do this…

With four months now being passed, I needed to at the least increase my total time by two hours every month. I had asked Kyojuro what a good method would be to help me train my lungs better. But he said he'd have to get back to me on that. Unfortunately that was a month ago.

Thinking on that brought up a memory from two weeks ago. "Now that I think on it… Shinjuro might not be training me because I punched him in the face for saying Kyojuro was probably dead…" It was quite the shock… turns out I was now fast enough to sucker punch the former Hashira. When it happened no one made a single sound, even as blood dripped from my teacher's nose. Instead he only stood up and left the dining room. Both Senjuro and I felt as if he was going to kill me. Instead Shinjuro informed me that he wasn't going to train with me, at least until I was at proficient with the fifth form.

As I was contemplating my next move I heard the dojo door open. "YOSH! I figured out how to help you while returning alive!" Turning around I couldn't help but grin as Kyojuro entered the dojo.

"Glad to see you back alive!" He nodded while walking up to me and setting down a gourd on the ground. "Uh… what's this?"

The flame Hashira laughed before explaining. "This is a water gourd! Evidently my friend Kocho San the insect Hashira uses this to train her Tsuguko's lungs! So I thought it could help you out as well!" I was now very intrigued and picked it up as he explained further. "The idea is to blow as hard as you can into, training the amount of air you can take in, and how much you can exhale. We know to move onto a bigger one when this one explodes!" I couldn't help but grin until I realized something.

"Sounds great! I can't wait to… wait… explode?" He nodded his head while turned to him. "And how big is the biggest gourd?" He laughed and pointed to my chest.

"About chest height!" I blinked at that while he patted my shoulder. "No worries! You'll get there in no time! Also to help you along I've recruited the help of some Kakushi. Their job is to wake you up at night if you ever stop breathing! They were more than happy to help out!" I was beginning to believe I was going to die before I even fought a demon.

But I wasn't about to give up now and I appreciated the help. "Thanks man… I'm going to need all the help I can get." Kyojuro nodded before I gestured to my sword. "Mind helping me with my fifth form before I try making a gourd explode? I'm still struggling with it." With a nod we got to work on once more strengthening me to become a demon slayer. After an hour it was clear to both of us that I simply needed to practice the fifth form. But he stayed around to see me try and blow the gourd up through sheer air pressure.

"Go on! Show that gourd that you are not to be underestimated!" I blew as hard as I could until…

"Ugh… I can't blow anymore…" I was now huffing and puffing, no matter how hard I blew I just couldn't make the gourd explode. "Sheesh… is it even possible to explode a gourd?" Humming to himself Kyojuro left for a moment before coming back with the largest gourd I've ever seen. "Uh… what are you doing?" Smirking at me Kyojuro started blowing into it. After just a few moments the gourd exploded sending pieces of it everywhere. "WHOA!" At my look of disbelief the flame Hashira laughed.

"HAHAHA! Does that answer your question my young friend?" I could only nod dumbly as he gestured to my own gourd. "Well then you only need to do one thing now don't you?" Looking at my new goal I could only nod.

"Right!" Without wasting another second I started blowing into it again… only to stop a few minutes later. "Okay… I… I think I will need to pace this a bit more…" My friend and mentor nodded sagely at my words. That alone made reaffirmed the idea that this was going to take a while. Oh well… still got a year to finish. Just need to keep trying my absolute hardest! Now more determined, and with a new way of training myself I went to work… even though I admit that blowing into a gourd to make it explode sounded pretty weird.

Live large! Break the line with a blazing soul! So says I the line break!

Argentum: Alright I will admit that this is a shorter than usual chapter. But there really wasn't much else to put in.

Grel'Slyfer: Indeed… simply training to master what he is being taught does not make for much entertainment.

Argentum: That and there wasn't much to do in the way of interactions. Those were mostly done last chapter, and though there are a few in this one. It was mostly about the struggles of trying to master the various techniques and forms.

Eris: Yeah well at least you don't have to deal with the womanizer.

Argentum: Oh yeah… so sorry about that.

Eris: Eh least he isn't too bad.

Zenitsu: What do you mean by too bad?!

Grel'Slyfer: Ah… the sleep fighter has come.

Zenitsu: Heh?

Argentum: Ignore him… hey mind sending us off?

Zenitsu: Uh sure… ahem… this has been a Dark Guard production now signing off!

Everyone: Goodbye!