AN: Hey guys! It's been a while and there is a reason for that. I had a few problems with finding a job. I'm still jobless but I'm trying my best. Another thing was that I was translating my own story (which as of now has The Prologue and two chapters!)
It's already available at Royal Road! Just search for "Anarchy in Freedom" and you should find it easily. If not, check my Tumblr since any updates will go there.
tumblr(dot)com(slash)that-boy-akira
Thanks again PaulyThide for helping me, giving me inspiration to write again!
Sorry for the delay, these past two weeks have been quite bad for me.
Without further delay, enjoy ;).
Tanjiro was still quite shaken up.
No one could blame him. His entire life was peaceful. Anything of this caliber would shake anyone up, no matter how "manly" they try to appear. The Vanir Goddess advised for them to wait nighttime if they want to move Nezuko anywhere. They couldn't risk getting sunlight on her skin by mistake.
Freya related these recent events with Brok. It was such a sudden attack that it didn't register for her until Sindri killed Odin. Maybe it was too selfish of her to just forgive Odin? Maybe she was only thinking on the betterment of herself? That was mental debate with no practical results. One day, she thought it was justified to not kill Odin, the other she felt like it was a mistake not killing him.
This was one of these days.
She looked at the impassive and plain face of Nezuko. No true major emotion showing up. Maybe she's trying to console Tanjiro? Or she is gradually disconnecting from her human side? Hard to tell. Nezuko did protect her brother, even in her somewhat Berserk State.
The burial was silent. The only thing that made noise was the shovel putting dirt in the holes and Tanjiro's prayers.
"We need to go to that Mount Sagiri, right?", Tanjiro asks, still looking at the burial.
"If you wish so", The goddess says solemnly.
"I will. I'll cure Nezuko and stop this senseless death", He says clenching his fist.
"Can I pick that bamboo basket?", Tanjiro asks a farmer.
"Sure, but it's full of holes. I don't think it would-"
"No problem! I can fix anything! And I will pay for everything!", He exclaims with a bit too much energy.
"There is no need for payment. The quality of these things aren't one of the best-"
"There!"
Tanjiro, ignoring the farmer, fix the holes and whatever other problems the basket had and proudly shoes it to the farmer.
"How much it will cost?", The boy asks.
"Nothing, as I said, these-"
"Absolutely not! Here, I'll pay for it!"
"BUT I ALREADY SAID IT'S NOT NECESSARY-"
Tanjiro grabs the arm of the farmer with such force that it almost breaks it, opens the palm of his hand and shoves some coins with an equal amount of force to the farmer's hand.
"THANK YOU FOR THE BASKET!", He says as he runs before the farmer has opportunity to protest.
Tanjiro arrives at the small cave (or rather, hole in a wall) that Freya was guarding. Nezuko was inside of the hole, since it was daytime now. The trio traveled for a few days now, but it wasn't just as near as they thought it would be. So, rather than waiting for night time for them to travel, Tanjiro gave the idea of the basket.
"Nezuko?", Tanjiro calls his sister.
"Don't worry, she is inside. But you will want to see this", Freya pointed at the hole with amusement.
Which made Tanjiro puzzled.
Nezuko took a peek out of the new hole she made on the ground. Her Sakura Pink eyes gazed at her friends.
Freya didn't meet Nezuko before, but she was quite sure that no mortal could have these very specific eye colors. The only person she remembers having similar eyes was Heimdall. Nezuko's skin was increasingly paler in these past few days. She was gradually, but slowly, transforming into a demon. What didn't make sense was how she wasn't starving for human flesh. Questions for later.
"Nezuko, can you enter this basket? It's closed, so the sun won't hurt you", Tanjiro asked.
Nezuko's reply was a frown.
"Well, you did grow up in size when I used my magic. Maybe you can apply that but in the opposite spectrum", Freya suggests.
"Spectrum?", Tanjiro says, confused.
"The opposite", Freya clarified.
"Oh".
At this, Nezuko jumps onto the basket, almost showing her private parts (much to Tanjiro's despair). But upon checking inside, it looked like she was just a kid instead of a pre-teen.
"Cute", Both of them shared this line of thought.
"[Create Tissue]", Freya casts a simple magic to cover the basket, "Here, a silk fabric. It should suffice for now".
Tanjiro grabs the fabric with slight awe before covering the basket.
"How do you do that?", He asks, still amazed at the sight of the Arcane.
"Oh, I guess you don't know what magic is".
Freya proceeds to explain the intricacies of the Arcane Arts. How she had learned it, how she discovered it, how she studied along with testing it as well as identify people with talent with it. The truth is that magic isn't limited to pre-established rules or manifestations. The limits to it are the Caster's imagination. You wanted to create a ball of light so you can see in the dark? You just needed to know how much magic to put in the spell, how to envision the spell as well as practice the release of it.
Of course, for every person who thought about the [Luminous Orb, there is the one who thought about [Chrono Dissonance].
Heimdall loved that spell.
[Chrono Dissonance] disrupts the temporal flow, causing a localized time distortion. Its purpose is to disorient enemies by trapping them in a fluctuating time bubble, making it challenging for them to react or strategize effectively.
Not that it worked for him in the end...
"Can this be taught?", Tanjiro asks with glee and admiration to the Arcane Arts.
"Yes, but the priority here is to find Mr. Urokodaki, right?", She says pointing at the sun.
"I know! Is just that... I think I'll need it. Wait... Can you cure Nezuko?", The boy asks, almost as if it was obvious.
Freya thinks about it for a while, "I'm afraid not. Even if it was possible, there are too many technicalities that could derange your sister, and that's of course, undesirable".
"Why?", He says, almost depressed.
"Because your sister basically changed species. If I do something wrong, even a small mistake, it could cost, at best, her mental state and at worst, her life", She explain, making very clear about the risks involving such a task, "I don't deny the possibility, but I would need to know more about Demons and their biology to make it work".
"I see", Tanjiro says as he head pats his sister, "How much affinity I have with magic?"
"At this moment? None."
It's been a long road. Nezuko was finally walking outside the basket, since it was night. What was impressive is that Tanjiro didn't feel tired at all when he cared his sister for half the day. Maybe he has more strength than he knows.
Freya observed Nezuko for additional biological changes, but as of now, it's the same gradual changes. One new thing was how the final parts of her hair was turning red over time.
"Look, there is a temple. Maybe we can rest there?", Tanjiro pointed.
Freya shrugged, after all, she could carry them both if she wanted, but the mortals have their limitations.
"Wait... That's...!", The boy's face suddenly turned grim, "That's the smell of blood!".
He was about to run up the staircase when Freya put a hand in his shoulder.
"Don't rush to a unknown danger! Stay calm and stay sharp. We can't be reckless here", The goddess warned the boy before he did anything stupid.
"But-!"
"Focus! We will advance with caution. Understood?"
He nodded, still agitated.
The trio walk towards the Temple's entrance. Tanjiro could only look at the focused and watchful eyes of Freya. She must be at least familiarized with situations like this. Upon opening the door they saw a nauseating scene.
A demon was devouring a corpse.
The reactions were mixed. Tanjiro almost puked in utter shock. Nezuko has her guard up and Freya had a unreadable reaction.
"What do you want? This is my turf and if you trespass it... You're gonna get fucking squashed", He said ,still munching over a few pieces of meat.
Freya discreetly glanced at Nezuko, who now was salivating over the corpses.
"That's not good", She thought.
"Now this is strange. Y'all are humans?"
The impasse persisted for a while.
Until suddenly the demon jumped over Tanjiro in such a speed even Freya had trouble following. Maybe a [Blood Art]?
Tanjiro however, quickly sliced the Demon's throat with his ax before it could penetrate his body. The demon backed out of instinct, but seeing that it was just a simple lumberjack tool, he started chuckling.
"An axe? Now this is gonna be good", He mocked, "But a little scratch like this is gonna heal real soon".
Before he had time to heal the slice, Freya lunged at him with her own attack, using the sword she made when she met Giyu. The speed of the attack surprised the demon who needed to back step or risk having a big injury to heal.
"Huh, quite fast, but not by far not the fastest I've faced", He comment while looking with more attention at the woman, "You're quite the gal I'd want to have. What do you say, want to be my pet?"
Freya blinked. Really? Was this low-life, this excuse of a mortal being, asking her, the Valkyrie Queen and Mother-of-All Goddess, to be his pet? The audacity and courage to even think about it was commendable, but no less disrespectful.
"I'm gonna feed you your heart", She said plainly and simply.
The demon was confused but started wheezing after a brief pause, "Yeah! And I'm gonna be the next Kami!"
His chest was suddenly slashed by Freya who was starting to be quite pissed at the low-life's bravado. This time he didn't back away, but rather faced the attack, striking her stomach with his pointy nails. He was quite surprised to see that the attack didn't do as much damage as he hoped.
Or any damage at all.
Meanwhile, Tanjiro sneaked to get closer to Nezuko who was having a mental war. The prospect of eating human flesh contaminated her mind, but thanks to Tanjiro, she managed to quiet the urge.
The fight continued, with the demon getting progressively frustrated at each attack that failed and at each slice she succeeded. It didn't make sense! How could a human that wasn't part of the Demon Slayer Corps be this strong?! Even his [Blood Art: Wind Speed] wasn't helping! The only thing that kept him alive was the fact that this woman didn't have a Nichirin Sword.
He attempted a wild haymaker, only to be...
Discombobulated.
His ears were burning and his head felt dizzy. He felt a sharp pain in his chest, and something entered it, but it wasn't a sword. It turned, gripped and twisted, it searched for something. Then suddenly it stops, grabbing something very vital. The hand comes out and the demon can feel something being ripped off of him.
Badump* Badump*
Both siblings and the demon saw what Freya just pulled.
It was the demon's heart.
The demon immediately collapses on the ground unconscious while the heart is still beating.
"Kami-sama... What is this...?", Tanjiro thinks still in disbelief.
"Is he...?", Tanjiro asked.
"That's not enough to kill him", a unknown voice said.
The trio turns to see who spoke. It was a elderly man wearing a cloud-padded blue kimono with a Tengu Mask. With the exception of Freya, no one noticed the man approach them.
"This woman... She's familiar with combat... Her aura exudes royalty and bravery. The boy however... He is too kind, too pure. What was Giyu thinking?"
"What... would be enough?", Tanjiro said, hesitantly.
"Don't ask me! Think of it yourself!", He said in a no-nonsense manner.
Tanjiro thinks about it. It's true. He can't rely on Freya or any other mysterious savior to help him. He'll need to find out how to do things on his own, sooner or later. He grabs a stone and looks at the heartless demon on the ground, raising the stone.
"He will suffer...", He thought.
"He won't make it", Freya whispers to the elder man, "He is too kind-hearted and too hesitant".
It's not that Freya didn't believe Tanjiro could change. Atreus changed, Kratos changed, hell, even she changed. But asking so much of someone that is still too immature... It's too much to ask.
"Huh? It's you! Come here you fucking bastard! I'll eat even your bones so no one can find your sorry ass!", The demon wakes up, threatening the nearest person, as usual.
"[Biding Roots]", Freya casted her spell nonchalantly.
The elderly man is quite surprised at the sight, but his mask managed to hide it.
The sun was starting to rise and Tanjiro still didn't do anything. He was watching the demon, trying to intimidate him while not being able to move. The sun did the job for him and effectively vaporized the demon. Tanjiro gasped at the sight. If dawn sunlight did this amount of damage, of course Nezuko wound hide from it.
"Wait, Nezuko!", He searched for his sister.
Only to see Freya pointing at one small house where Nezuko was not only hiding from the sun, but also in her "child" form as to fit in the basket. After that, he looked for the man who was with them. He was burying the people who got killed in the Temple, giving the dead a small prayer.
"Uh...", Tanjiro tried to speak.
"My name is Sankonji Urokodaki. I assume you all are the people Giyu Tomioka sent me", He said, still looking at the burial.
"O-oh, yeah! I'm Tanjiro Kamado!", Tanjiro introduced himself.
"Freya Vanadís. And the one in the basket-", She said pointing at her back since she was carrying Nezuko, "-is his sister, Nezuko."
"And we-"
"Tanjiro. What would you do if your sister devoured a human?", Urokodaki asked much to Tanjiro's shock.
He was caught so off guard that he needed to double check. Did he really asked this? But what could he do? He wouldn't let that happen! But if it did... What he would do? Kill her? No, of course not! But at the same time, if she killed and devoured a human, what about him? Would it be too late? Would Tanjiro be the next victim? If she ate flesh, would she still be curable? There is a cure to this? And what about-
"TANJIRO!", Freya shouted, bringing him back to reality.
Urokodaki saw the woman's reaction to his hesitation. It sounded... motherly. Maybe personal. But this was one point Urokodaki was trying to prove.
"Boy, you are too hesitant! Indecisive! You know why you couldn't answer me? Because you lack resolve! Finality!", The Elder man berates the child, "There are only two things for you to do when your sister devours a human! Kill her and kill yourself!".
"What?", Freya thought, a bit surprised.
Was this man so listless to even suggest that? Tanjiro lost his entire family. Asking for him to end the Kamado Family is equivalent to crush his hopes and dreams.
"So you are going to deny his right to fight?", The goddess asked angrily.
Urokodaki glances at the woman. Her weird abilities are similar to [Blood Arts, but the fact that the sun is shining in her skin without killing her... Who was this woman? The weird tattoos in her arms and the unbeatable beauty she has...
"I'm not saying that", He corrects himself, "What I'm saying is that this is not supposed to happen ever. Do you understand boy? This will be your constant challenge if you want to cure your sister. A constant reminder that the slightest of mistakes will be the end of your journey. This is what it mean to carry a Demon by your side", He warns Tanjiro, who was still there quietly listening.
"I won't disappoint you, sir!"
"Very well. You, lady. Are you going to embark in this journey? The Demon Slayer Corps could use your... Abilities", The old man suggests.
This is the turning point in Tanjiro's life. The Weird Foreign Woman and the mysterious Tengu Masked Elder have a lot to to discuss.
Tanjiro was mentally scratching his head, quite baffled.
Despite the age Tanjiro thinks Urokodaki has, he is still running in inhumane speeds and Freya seems to keep up with ease, while he struggles to follow them. Additionally, the fact that Urokodaki doesn't make a single sound while running gives Tanjiro a mental meltdown, since they were running for about a few minutes, almost an hour and they still ran like it was a casual stroll on the way home.
Speaking of home, they appeared to stop at a small hut.
"Did... I... Pass... The... Test...?", Tanjiro manages to ask between his breaths.
"The test starts now. We will climb a mountain. Be ready", Urokodaki lazily announced.
"Eh?!"
Freya looked both amused and concerned. Amused because this is the first day of his training (or at least, the test so he can train with Urokodaki) and concerned because the boy never did something similar. His only exercise was cut down logs and burn coal.
Speaking of Urokodaki, they ran faster than Tanjiro because they needed to talk. Freya explained to him what she could without sounding too unreal. She couldn't outright say she was a Goddess from another Realm, basically the All-Mother of every single being. She also couldn't say that she existed in this world for over six centuries, so she disguised most of her knowledge and acquaintances with studies and small/big favors to the Shogunate and the army, consequently joining the Frigg Clan.
The tricky part was to talk about magic. She explained how it worked, that it exists in every living being, but few can detect or even interact with it and how she studied her "entire life" on the subject. Freya also said that Urokodaki has great affinity with magic, but on the water based side.
Which was true. Even with magic being mostly "the way you imagine the spell working" instead of "meticulously creating a spell", there are some things easier for people to do than others. Like how someone can dominate the scientific side of biology and completely suck at the basics of cooking.
Urokodaki was somewhat stunned to hear this, since he is the Retired [Water Hashira]. When he disclosed his information, Freya was also surprised, but also intrigued.
When it came to Tanjiro's Training, the Elder made the boy's life a living hell. The very first training session was to go up the mountain and go back. Pretty normal if it wasn't filled with death traps and lures to said traps. Tanjiro thought that his nose would work in his favor, but he soon found out that the air is rarefied, which nullified his best asset.
Urokodaki said that he didn't expect him to come back the same day, but was surprised that even with some horrible bruised and cuts, the boy did came back. A quick [Major Healing] from Freya was enough to fix the problem.
The group was having a well deserved rest. Well, Tanjiro was since he was the only one drained from all of his energy. Apparently, Healing Spells only accelerated the natural healing process of mortals. This won't be a problem if Tanjiro manages to activate his own magic in the future.
On that topic, Urokodaki showed Freya the [Water Breathing Style, which gave some results and answers. Freya concluded that these [Breathing Techniques] are the "Magic" of this world. This would explain why magic is mostly unheard off outside books and myths. The Elder also explain how there are a lot more [Breathing Techniques]. In total, there are 14 different styles, but all of them can be categorized in five.
The styles are:
Flame, Water, Wind, Thunder and Stone.
Self explanatory, yes. But there is more. All of these five categories are a variation of the [Sun Breathing, the very first created to kill demons. Unfortunately, the Sun is not only the first, but also the strongest, which means only a select few have the potential to use the weakest techniques of it.
Other variations are:
Water: Flower, Serpent.
Serpent: Insect.
Flame: Love.
Thunder: Sound.
Wind: Beast, Mist.
What intrigued was how [Love] was even conceived. Then again, as a philosopher said, "Love is fire that burns without being seen", so it has the overall spirit.
One shouldn't mistake "Flames" with "Fire" though. The Techniques are very strict.
Despite the names and meanings, the sword don't actually produce any of the elements listed. The [Breathing Techniques, despite being underwhelmingly obvious, are just [Physical Enhancement] spells. Sure, the Thunder and Wind might be just as fast and do shockwaves when used, but they don't create the elements, Unlike Freya who can safely use the elements with her sword.
Urokodaki also explained the origins of the Demon Slayer Corps. They exist for about a thousand years and have been always fighting against demons. The government doesn't recognize the Corporation as one of them, which means they are basically a Independent Militia. A known and unspoken secret. With the exception of Giyu (for them), the identity of the [Hashiras] was a complete secret and mystery.
The Demon's origins are also unknown. The only information about them is that they only feed on human flesh. But their characteristics are more studied. They have enhanced strength, stamina, agility, speed and incredible regeneration. The lesser demons don't have [Blood Arts, or at least doesn't have enough power to actually use them. The [Blood Arts] are unique to that Demon, so if you find one with the ability to turn people in stone by just looking at the victim's eyes, you wouldn't find other demons with the same ability.
The higher the rank of the Demon, not only it is harder to kill it, but also to calculate the amount of effort and cost is necessary to do so. There is also the Lower and High Moons. Or as they call themselves, The [Twelve Kizuki]. The [Twelve Kizuki] is an organization of the twelve strongest beings amongst demon-kind, second in strength and authority only to the Demon King himself, Muzan Kibutsuji.
While the Higher Moons killed many [Hashiras] over the years, the Lower Moons have been replaced countless times. Which eases the boys worries a bit. Just a bit.
Having all this information, Tanjiro was quite nervous if he would even qualify to the test at Mount Fujikanase.
A few months later.
"Hiya!"
Tanjiro was sparring with Freya, both using wood katanas. Tanjiro was now used to having a sword at his side. Before he was so clumsy with it that even running was a challenge. Thankfully this was corrected rather quickly.
In Urokodaki's honest opinion, the growth of Tanjiro was remarkable. Before he couldn't even do the basic [Concentration Breathing, but now? He could use the weakest techniques, even if a few times. Maybe he should thank Freya, since she explained with such patience and care that even a small child wound understand.
Urokodaki was the father and Freya was the mother. A funny comparison.
Then again, [Water Breathing] was the easiest style to learn.
Freya easily blocks the attack, but holds her position, turning the attack in a counter-attack, slashing downwards. Tanjiro barely manages to roll away from the attack.
Freya breaths slowly while holding her sword, ready to attack, "First Form: Water Surface Slash".
The attack is quick, but no less strong. It was a simple horizontal slash aiming to decapitate the enemy, but if used correctly it could cause devastating damage.
"Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust!", Tanjiro responds with his own attack, trying to counter the retaliation.
This was a simple attack, mostly used to caught the enemy off guard and using any other of the Techniques. The user performs a precise, fast and accurate thrust with their blade, a strike that Tanjiro managed to learn with some ease, despite being clunky at first.
The blades connect, but Freya's attack still disarmed Tanjiro, making his hands be in pain on the process.
"Gah! Dammit, this hurts...", The boy complained.
"Hey, don't be like that. You're doing fine. And remember, you're fighting against me, and I already have knowledge in warfare", Freya tried to ease the boy's frustrations.
"That's a bit condescending, Freya", Urokodaki said from the sidelines. He was silently observing until now.
"Sorry", She said simply. It was a commons mistake she made, but she managed to correct herself. Most of the times.
"But you are growing way faster than I predicted. It is commendable.
"I'm gonna eat now", He excused himself, with no protest from his Sensei.
"How is Nezuko?", Freya asked, cleaning the training grounds with her [Natural Restoration] spell.
"She is fine, although she is still sleeping ever since you three arrived", He explained.
"He has a lot of resolve. He just doesn't know it", Freya said, looking at Tanjiro, "He reminds me of my son, before..."
Urokodaki heard how sad she said that, "I'm sorry for your loss".
"Don't be. You'd didn't have anything to do with it, unlike me", She said, now opening a book.
It was her pastime to do records of the adventures she got into. It helped sometimes when she found a past line that explained a future event or mystery. But more often than not, these records had her own thoughts and regrets. Despite being quote-on-quote "better than before", she still had mental images of different actions she could have taken.
She even started drawing the scenarios in the books and Urokodaki saw it.
"Is that your son?", He said, pointing at an illustration of Baldur.
"Yes. Such a stubborn child. Maybe it's in the family's blood to like that", She said quietly.
The Elder didn't know what to say to her, but he did what he could do best, "I'll make tea. You should rest for now".
"Thank you".
Freya closed her book and got to the house. She saw how Tanjiro was sleeping on the floor thanks to being tired beyond compare. Nezuko was peacefully sleeping at his side in her futon.
Maybe she needs to sleep as well.
Date of Publication: 27th, October, 2023.