Nikolaos the Hashira born of bronze and fire

by The agent of steel

The balkin wars...an era that broke many and made many loose there will to fight anymore. on one fateful day, Nikolaos Aristokles born in sparta would have a chance encounter with demon that would reignite his will of fire and lead him to japan...the only problem is he doesnt speak a lick of japanese...

1. Chapter 1

The hashira born of bronze and fire

(4 YEARS before the events of the main demon slayer time line)

The Phalanx, a maneuver my people made to promote a bond between soldiers that was tougher than steel and sturdier than the mountains themselves. No maneuver was more reliant on the bond of warriors and their will of fire and as such each of us were born to be strong, to rely on each other and such my brothers grew to rely on me.

My name is Nikolaos Aristokles of Sparta the great lion of my village and the strongest spartan to grace my family, I may have been as wise as the greeks of old or as strong as them but I embodied their view, their way of life, their honor and yet… I was the last of them, the last to believe in the arts of the phalanx maneuver the last to truly know what it meant to be Greek. Our home was once prosperous with culture and love for the old ways but now it is dying…no it is modernizing, rotten out by the Balkan wars. A time when old spartans like myself who wore the bronze armor of our ancestors and carried a shield and spear like them were considered old fashioned. I had nothing left here to call my family, no sisters, no brothers, nothing at all as most of what I called family died in my arms during the balkin wars and so taking what remained of my life in Greece, taking my shield adorned with the royal crest of sparta, my Kopis, my helmet, and my spear I took the next train out of Greece at the ripe age of 22, and journeyed east to the silk roads of china where I heard they were ripe with bandits.

"mommy that man has a shield! Is he a spartan?" one of the boys marveled at me.

The young boy looked at me and I gave him a smile stroking my beard, "such a young and curious boy, tell me from where do you hail?"

The boy smirked and said, "me and my momma are from Athens heading up towards singapore"

I took a better look at the boy and her mother, and I realized they were poor, and looked hungry.

Looking at the boy's mother I said, "are you two without money by any chance? I assume your refugees of the balkin wars am I correct?"

The woman held her child in her hands solemnly and nodded her head, "my husband was part of a group of Athenians who never came back…we had no more money to keep up the payments to the house, so we have to move away to a more affordable place…in this case Singapore…"

Looking somberly at the two of them I reached into my pack and pulled out some gold coins and said, "I'm not sure if they accept drachmae in Singapore but I hope this gold can get you something at least" before putting some Drachmae in her hand much to her shock.

The lady smiled and me and said, "I thank you for your generosity and if I may offer you some words to the wise, I've heard rumors of Japan opening their borders to foreigners so maybe you could find some place to live there"

Smiling I said, "I thank you for that, I wish you and your child a good life in Singapore, as for me though my path lies on the silk roads ripe with bandits where I can find the warriors death I crave"

Soon though our paths diverged, and I decided to get off the train and make my way on foot through the ancient silk roads of china looking for that good fight which could give me that good death I wished for. The roads were barren though and ripe with bandits who would try to steal my goods only to be met with my spear through their chest and my shield bashing their faces in as I laughed. None of them were a good fight sadly.

Sitting down I took off my helmet and ran my hand through my short black hair.

"Zues above, is this all you send to test me? Am I not worthy of hardier foes! I have protected my village as its Hoplite for most of my life and yet bandits, wolves and bears seem to be all I have faced, why not give me a true challenge!" I sighed reaching into my pack and pulling out some salted lamb meat.

As I ate, I noticed a rather peculiar sight. A child staring at me from a dark corner, but this child wasn't a normal boy for sure, he had these weirdly colored eyes and pale white skin and was dressed in what I assumed to be Asian clothing but I couldn't be certain, but what I could be certain of was he was hungry, but not for the lamb even though it was good and salted to perfection, I think he was hungry for me.

Picking up my spear I looked at the kid and said, "so, I assume your some form of monster waiting for me to lower my guard so you can attack me"

The kid hissed at me and got closer as the sun started to set and said, "lord Muzan has tasked me with watching the silk road for merchants! You may not be any merchant, but you look tasty!"

Snickering I returned to my little camp saying, "well I won't disagree with you there, the women back home called me the modern Heracles however I will not die today for the gods of my homeland watch over me" before picking up my shield and taking up a phalanx stance facing the demon.

As night fell the demon lunged forward laughing saying, "I am the lower moon 9th demon known as Kita the grave robber! Fear me and my blood demon art Fires of regret!"

The demon's hands then turned into tiger claws laced in fire and blood. These claws managed pierce3my shield a bit leaving deep gashes along it but howling I lunged forward with my shield knocking the demon off balance before piecing it with my spear but to my shock the spear barely did anything to the demon I mean it hurt the demon but it didn't look to be killed which made me grin from ear to ear as I used my strength to push the demon even farther away.

"heheheheheHAHAHAHAHAHA" I let out a laugh and slammed my spear against my shield happily.

This seemed to confuse the demon as he leapt back and did a flip as his wounds healed up, "what the hell is with you! most merchants would be scared dealing with a Japanese demon like me!"

"This- this is the kind of fight I was hoping for! No longer am I facing people with guns or typical soldiers, I'm now facing demons! I feel like a Greek growing up in the Mycenaean era! A true demigod!" before taking up the phalanx stance once again circling the demon.

The demon then pulled out a knife saying, "normally I don't resort to using nichirin blades, but I think…if you want to be a nuisance, I'll gladly cut you to size with it and give your grinning head as a gift to lord muzan!" before lunging at me again with the knife.

I laughed and blocked every attempt the demon made to attack me with my shield, even catching the blade in the shield and disarming the demon.

Throwing down my spear and shield I then took the knife out and unsheathed my own kopis and started to grapple with the demon before finally slitting its throat open with the dagger killing it in the process.

As the demon started to die, I looked down at it grinning and said, "you were a good foe, Kita the grave robber, tell me…are there more demons like you along the path, where could I find demons like you?"

Kita struggled to breath before saying, "tch the demons of Japan are all stronger than me and will gladly kill you and give you the fight you want…I hope you die there…you damn Greek" before she turned to smoke and died.

Looking up at the sky above I let out a happy scream and said, "Zues above is this your answer! You have given me a new reason to live! To kill demons! Thank you!" before hurrying to pack up my gear and march through the night unaware of the fact I was being followed.

Soon I made it to Singapore where I found a ship sailing for Japan.

I did have…a lot of trouble though as the ship captain only knew Japanese so I had to explain and try to learn when a voice called out, "this man will be traveling with me actually, he may not know Japanese but he's with me!"

I then looked over to see a man dressed up in a white jacket of sorts with blonde hair with red highlights. The man gave off this aura of fire, he wasn't Greek…but his entire aura was like that of a Greek soldier ready for war.

Speaking perfect Greek, the man looked at me and said, "the captains may not understand you but luckily I do my friend."

Smiling I looked at the man and said, "I thank you kind sir, tell me, what is your name?"

The man smiled and said, "Kyojuro Rengoku, I am a swordsman of Japan, and if I may ask what yours is?"

I eyed the man a bit more and said, "I am Nikolaos Aristokles, the great lion of sparta, pleasure to meet you"

I then boarded the ship with rengoku and decided to talk to him abit more, because I don't think I know all that there is to know about him.

Taking a seat and sharing some of my lamb meat I said, "if I may ask…. you seem very fluent in Greek, may I ask where you learned it?"

Rengoku smiled as he ate some of the lamb saying, "ahh you see as a Hashira it is my duty to learn many languages in case we come across a foreigner who has no idea what a demon is, I know Greek, a little bit of English and even some French!"

I whistled and said, "not bad, but theres that word again, Hashira, what are you exactly Rengoku?"

Rengoku looked around and said, "normal people don't know about this but…demons are real."

I chuckled a bit and said, "I know I killed one on my way here actually, hell that's the reason I want to go to Japan in the first place, to kill more demons."

Rengoku smirked and said, "seeing how you took down a lower moon, you showed considerable skill killing demons and I had a feeling you'd make a great demon slayer soooo I may or may not have been tailing you since china"

Laughing a bit I said, "let me guess you were here to kill kita?"

Rengoku nodded and said, "yep, so if you're gonna be a demon slayer your gonna have to learn everything about the corps and our goal, as well as about the demon you killed and its master…the deadliest demon ever Muzan Kibutsuji, the trip will only be a couple days but I will train you"

During the voyage I learned how to speak Japanese albeit poorly…to the point where I made Rengoku sensei cringe, like a lot and then started talking to Rengoku sensei about the dagger I had gotten from the slain Kita and found out the scarlet ore within the dagger is why it kills demons so easily, a truly different metal from the bronze used in Greek weapons definitely but one I think would be amazing for my spear and kopis should I decide to hunt down demons.

"so, Rengoku where would one obtain a nichirin weapon, or more importantly get some of this scarlet ore to forge their own?" I asked taking a bite out of some salted lamb I still had.

Rengoku took a bite out of the lamb and shouted, "Umai!" with much gusto before saying, "you can't actually mine for it as it is sacred to the demon slayer core…professional demon slayers, only they can get nichirin weapons, if you would like I can get you in contact with a trainer who can test whether or not you are worthy to be a demon slayer, however you do have an aura about you, one that gives you an edge on other candidates"

Rengoku and I spent the rest of the voyage talking and learning about each other and Rengoku even gave me a katana to learn how to fight like a samurai as he put it. His methods reminded me of my general always intense but full of knowledge. With every day passing by on the ship I could feel myself learning a little bit more every time till finally rengoku and I spared and yet even then I still couldn't help but return to my Greek roots as a fighter wielding the gentle katana like a kopis full of brute force and gusto, which worked to my advantage but also earned me a scolding from rengoku.

With a sigh Rengoku looked at me as I struggled to stand, "clearly you're not demon slayer material…you don't use a katana right…however this is not your fault nor mine it's your training as a spartan…so I must reevaluate my style of training to fit your style of fighting" before giving me a hand up.

"I fought hundreds of soldiers with my spear and shield but you, you are on another level of fighting spirit…I am but heated metal in your hands teach me all that you know" I smirked as I got up.

Soon though our time on the boat ended but I kept following Rengoku learning all there was to know about being a demon slayer, this included total concentration breathing which reminded me of the Greek concept of the will of fire, to use all five instincts in a fight even using your sense of smell to pick up your foes.

Rengoku swore to train me from that day…mainly because I was too stubborn to let him out of my sight till he agreed to train me, and for the next year he molded me and taught me about fire breathing style and its many aspects, however as they were more meant for a katana I had to adapt them to fit my style of fighting with a spear and shield and even a kopis turning fire breathing into what I called Pantheon breathing form which at the moment only incorporated the first 12 Olympian gods.

Squaring up against Rengoku he smirked at me and said, "you are one of the oldest people to want to be a demon slayer, but you have the makings of one…if you beat me, I will see to it that you find a sensei who can perfect your pantheon breathing style and then a sensei who can approve you for final selection!" before unsheathing his katana.

Readying myself in my phalanx stance I took a deep breathe in and calmed myself concentrating and gripping my shield and spear with a fire in my chest letting out a loud yell as I rushed forward and lunged at him blocking his attack with the shield before countering with my spear aiming for his leg. Rengoku seemed to see this coming and leapt back before rushing me again aiming for my blind spot. Taking a deep breath in I calmed myself even more and used total concentration breathing too see the thread that connected my spear to his chest and followed it till everything lined up perfectly.

"Pantheon breathing style, 7th form rage of Ares! Lunge!" I shouted.

Soon a column of fire engulfed my spear and burned behind me as I rushed forward pinning Rengoku against my shield and throwing him off balance with a move of my arm then with a grin I got my spear close to his stomach poking him slightly.

"and that's a win for me, wouldn't you agree, Rengoku sensei?" I smirked.

Rengoku looked shocked at first but smiled and started laughing saying, "by the gods you worship, Nikolaos! You have truly exceeded my expectations! Very good! Yes, very good indeed! Best be ready cause tomorrow you and I make our way to the butterfly manor to meet your next tutor!"

Grinning I laughed happily and said, "hahaha! Well now that is reassuring!

Soon Rengoku would lead me to a tranquil and rather peaceful manor where he introduced me to a woman named Shinobu who gave me a rather…. bone chilling smile.

"ahhh you must be the man rengoku san was talking about, Nikolaos if I am correct?" Shinobu smiled.

I chuckled and nodded my head saying, "ummm yeah that would be me, can I ask though…who taught you greek?"

Shinobu chuckled a bit and said, "my eldest sister taught me about the many languages of the world and out of all them I found greek to be a rather elegant language"

Rengoku then said, "Nikolaos here wants to become a demon slayer, and as such I want to help him out with that goal."

Shinobu started to examine me like a doctor saying, "are you sure he's worthy? I mean loads of different people try to join us but only a few ever make it through, more importantly someone who doesn't even use a katana or fights like a samurai doesn't have a chance I think…"

Grinning I said, "well fight me then, fight me and let me show you even though I am a foreigner I can fight on par with one of you demon slayers!"

Shinobu grinned and said, "you are a very strange man…very well Nikolaos- san I shall fight you and see just how strong you are."

Grinning I followed Shinobu and Rengoku to the back where Shinobu unsheathed her katana, it looked rather unique as it was thin and with a single point at the end almost like a stinger of a bug.

Shinobu looked at me and said, "I assume Rengoku san has taught you about the different breathing techniques and how each one of them work? If so what is your preferred style?"

Slamming my back foot into the ground and readying myself into a phalanx stance I shouted, "mine is derived from fire breathing, the breathing of gods! I call it Pantheon breathing style!"

Shinobu and Rengoku looked confused and annoyed I shouted, "don't you look at me like that! It's a perfect breathing style for a spear and shield combo!"

Shinobu chuckled and said, "its just- well it's so like you I guess…let's see what your capable of…" before running at me rather gracefully almost like a butterfly.

Grinning I lunged forward with my shield ready to slam her face in but to my shock she leapt out of the way at the last minute totally surprising me. She knew how to get around my iron clad defense and range advantage which shocked me a bit but I adapted bashed her away with my shield keeping her away from me cause I had a feeling that katana of hers had some sort of trick up its sleeve.

"Ara, ara you caught on to my style of fighting! Must be that Greek training, how exciting! I guess you are more than just a dense spartan maybe there is a chance for you to become a hashira!" Shinobu smiled at me.

I felt my blood boiling again, she was graceful, strong in her own way. Like a burnet moth, elegant in looks but with a dangerous sting.

I clank my spear against my shield excitingly and readied myself ready to rush her at her weakest which I doubt would be easy, but I had to keep on the offensive, tire her out and then when the moment was right, counter attack. Just like a phalanx.

"I thank you for the compliment Shinobu sensei, and if I may return a compliment, your grace, your elegance and pinpoint way of fighting reminds me of goddess Artemis herself, I wish our fight to be as passionate as a battle between gods!" I grinned.

Snickering I circled her again before rushing her. Her katana bounced harmlessly against my shield and with a snicker I lunged with my spear but she leapt back parrying my spear but she wasn't expecting me to leap forward and bash her face in with my shield again and used my shield foot to keep her in place and bash her face in multiple times with my shield before pushing her around and dropping my shield and spear.

With a grin I wrapped my arms around her waste and shouted, "behold the superiority of greek style martial arts! Fear the wrath of the suplex!" With a laugh I picked up Shinobu who was surprisingly light and suplexed her feeling as her body hit the ground behind me.

Shinobu coughed up a bit of blood in shock as I rolled out of the way and grabbed her feet and threw her out of the way before rushing for my spear and shield and taking my phalanx stance again.

Shinobu struggled to get up before looking at me and saying, "you- you are a very strong warrior, Nikolaos Aristokles" before sheathing her katana and bowing towards me.

This confused me a bit as I said, "wait…are-are we done?"

Shinobu nodded and said, "I will train you for a couple months before sending you over to Urokodaki to finish your training."

I looked confused and said, "wait who?"

Shinobu smiled and said, "he's a former Hashira and one of the best swordsmen here, I will show you how to perfect your pantheon breathing style and help you mold it into a breathing style that can be used for a spear and shield but also one that can be used for a katana or that dagger of yours. However Urokodaki will mold your will and body"

I smiled and said, "well then shinobu sensei mold me like metal!"

I spent the next 6 months training under Shinobu and her butterfly sister, even meeting her older sister, Kanae who was a rather sweet girl and most hopeful about me becoming a demon slayer as someone with my technique and will of fire could really do some damage to the demons who prowl the night. The learning process was unique to say the least as it involved me being able to splash Shinobu with a cup of medicated water, tag her, and also be limber enough to stretch with her, this all culminated however in learning total concentration Constant and how to control my breathing in perfect harmony with my body. Most of this I had already unintentionally mastered when I was in Greece learning how the ancient spartans trained in the agoge. However, Kanae sensei helped me perfect what I had scratched the surface of and made it an even stronger form than I already had. Kanae and I would laugh overtime about our past and how different Greek culture was to Japanese culture. Aoi though…. yeah, she was not too happy about me Suplexing Shinobu who did complain a bit about back problems after that but no matter they treated me like a guest, and a student even confirming that Rengoku had named me his Tsugoku, or his student and I was to be expected to learn well from my other tutors if I was to be a demon slayer. Though the training was rough the food that followed was always good.

Kanae would smile at me and say, "one of these days you'll have to teach me your family recipe for Spanakopita Nikolaos cause it sounds so good!"

I laughed as I drank some sake and said, "and you'll have to teach me how to make sake cause this stuff is stronger than wine!"

I would soon find out however Kanae passed away…. killed by a demon who I wanted to hunt down and kill for hurting Kanae an oath I would keep in my heart. In those 6 months Shinobu had also approved me to meet the man who would train my body even more than I did back in Greece, a man known as Urokodaki.

As I was getting ready to go Shinobu handed me a booklet.

"what's this?" I asked curiously.

Shinobu smiled and said, "a small booklet I put together for you, think of it like a translation booklet, with every Greek to Japanese translation you'll need while you're here."

I gave her a small bow as I put the booklet in a small pack I kept on my waist. I was given directions and a pack of food as well to help me through my journey to the mountain where Urokodaki lived.

Asi set out Rengoku and Shinobu looked at me and waved farewell to me.

I would travel for the next week and a half up I walked on a long march up to the mountain where I would meet Urokodaki. The journey was a boring one without any damn demon coming after me which made me very sad as I was hoping for at least 20 or so demons to come after me. I was demon starved and had no one to fight me, and trying to translate greek into Japanese, even with Shinobu's book was proving to be aggravating.

"I would like…to buy, that ball…. thing" I would try and say while pointing to a sign with a dumpling on it, much to the confusion of the lady at the store.

Thankfully though she soon understood what I wanted, and I tried paying for it in drachmae but…. She refused it and I found out the hard way that my drachmae were useless here. Walking away defeated, and hungry, I sighed and kept walking through the village, soon entering the forest where the air felt deathly cold all of a sudden.

"Strange…is Hades here?" I muttered, taking my shield off my back and getting ready for a fight if needed.

"Well now aren't you far from home" a voice called out.

Looking over I was met with a man with pale skin, wearing a red shirt with grey pants and a priest's hat. What caught me off guard though was his eyes; they were colored like rainbows with a symbol in them, oh he was also carrying a womans severed head in his arms and a womans arm over his shoulder but at this point I was kinda used to seeing messed up things like that.

In greek I said, "hold on give me a sec I need to translate what you said, and that sigil in your eye" taking out my booklet and translating his eyes as upper moon 2.

I grinned at him and said, "well now you're a sight for sore eyes! An upper moon demon! Yes, I like that! I like that a lot!"

This confused the demon a bit as he didn't realize I spoke only greek.

I snickered looking at the priest demon guy, there was something different about this one…he seemed stronger and older this exited me even more than finding out demons existed in the first place. Part of me wanted to run as I believed this demon was beyond my skill but at the same time I wanted to fight, even if it meant my death, this was the true strength of a spartan.

Grinning I readied myself in a phalanx stance I said, "I can sense you are stronger than the other demons! Tell me fine warrior of demon kind, what is your name!" While secretly holding the translation booklet Shinobu sensei gave me to figure out what he is saying.

The demon unfurled his fan happily and said, "never thought id see the day I'd face a foreigner! Very well I shall reveal my name before killing you. witness your demise I am the upper moon 2 demon, The Living Budd-"

Growling angrily, I threw down my spear and held the booklet turning the pages rapidly shouting, "hold on you bastard! I can only translate what you're saying as fast as I can! Speak slower you chucklefuck!" before throwing the booklet at him hitting him square in the forehead.

This caught the demon off guard and with a sigh he started to speak in Greek now with a big lump on his forehead saying, "I am Douma the upper moon 2 demon, Douma the living buddha, and what might your name and honorifics be?"

Picking up my spear and slamming it against my shield I said, "FINALLY SOMEONE WHO SPEAKS GREEK ABOUT DAMN TIME! I am Nikolaos Aristokles the great lion of sparta! The earth trembles with my roars!" and grinned before circling Douma.

Douma then rushed forward at me turning the ground to ice, which caught me offguard at first, but I kept to my guns and rolled out of the way before rushing him and bashing his face in with my shield sending him flying back. While he was a bit dazed and shocked at the fact I broke his nose, I rushed him again and stabbed him with my spear and flung him into a tree, which he leapt from and tried freezing me.

Our fight went on for hours with neither one of us being able to land a decisive blow or a permanent blow, which made me grin as a short fight would be boring, I felt my heart racing my blood boiling the very earth around me trembled from our battle. This was the kind of fight any Greek would have wanted! However, Douma was getting…aggravated and I could tell, his smile had faded and he was actually getting pissed, day break was in an hour so I used this to my advantage and threw down my shield and spear and rushed him catching him off guard with a punch square to the face as I managed to get behind him and laughed as I wrapped my arms around him shocking him as I picked him up.

"wait, wait what are you doing! Oh god you are stronger than I thought- no, no,no,no!" Douma struggled as I suplexed him and then rushed out of the way as he leapt back up to face me visibly pissed off and hunched over.

"you know, I wanted to be a nice guy, eat you up maybe try and turn you into a demon! But no, you had to be an asshole about it and Suplex me so hard that I can now taste my own spinal cord AND MY OWN SHIT! Now time to get serious!" Douma growled rushing me suddenly though I heard a loud crack and watched as Douma stopped dead in his tracks.

Suddenly Douma let out a loud howl of pain shouting, "BY BUDDHA WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY BACK! IT HURTS SO DAMN MUCH AAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

I couldn't help but laugh at Douma's predicament as I rushed him again and Suplexed him a second time getting him even closer to the edge of the forest in the process.

This was nothing as I could see the sunlight and stalled for more time even leading into a clearing with douma chasing after me.

Douma noticed this too and before stepping out of the forest smiled at me and said, "you're smarter than you look, Nikolaos of Sparta…. Nay I shall use your honorifics! Nikolaos Aristokles the great lion of sparta! one of these days our paths will cross again and when it does! I SWEAR TO BUDDHA I WILL KILL YOU! so do me a favor, get stronger, get really strong become a hashira who can rival even the greatest of demon slayers and when you get stronger to the point the even other 12 kizuki know your name and tremble at it I shall find you once again and fight you!"

Grinning I said, "trust me Douma the living buddha I swear by the river styx that I will find you when you least expect it, even before I become a hashira and break your back at every point! And when I do become a Hashira I will fight you on equal footing, and we shall see which one of us is the strongest, the buddha or the greek!"

As he left hunched over and limping from the broken back, I could do nothing but laugh as I had just drove away and fought one of the upper moons and lived with…. oh, shit I had loads of frost bite wounds, a couple broken ribs and was bleeding like crazy. I'm just glad Shinobu wasn't here to see this because she would murder me for not taking it easy and nursing my wounds.

Just an average Tuesday I guess.

I then continued on my way through the mountains coming across the shack where Urokodaki was waiting for me.

Bowing to him I said, "Urokodaki sensei I presume?"

Urokodaki nodded and said, "so, you're the soul Shinobu and Rengoku both say could give the other demon slayers and even the hashira a run for their money! Well I can understand why, not many people would go running around in armor like yours, so unique and your weapons of choice, not a lot of people walk around with that style of weapons…I shall teach you and mold the already strong steel of your body to be as flexible as water…are you ready?"

Grinning I put down my spear and shield and got ready for whatever Urokodaki had planned for me. Quite frankly what he had planned was the most rigorous, being sent to the top of the mountain in the middle of the night and forced to run to the bottom while avoiding all the traps he had placed. The fact the air was beyond thin didn't make it easier at all, it reminded me of my training at Mount Olympus with the other members of my team, training day in and out in harsh climates with little to no oxygen. In little gear I felt naked but when he told me to start wearing my armor and carry my shield and spear, I got the hang of it even using what I learned from Rengoku sensei and Shinobu sensei to smell for the traps and learn from there.

During dinner Urokodaki looked at me and said, "Nikolaos can I ask you something?"

I nodded my head and said, "sure whats up sensei?" while using my chopsticks to pick up some mushrooms and put them in with some rice.

Urokodaki looked at me and said, "why did you come to Japan? Surely you greeks have some sort of code, some reason to fight."

I chuckled and said, "ahhh yes, you see the greek will of fire…to fight continuously till death takes us and we ascend to Elysium, in my case I love combat, to fight noble foes and protect the weaker people. This is what gets me up in the morning, this is my will of fire. Fight demons till death takes me"

Urokodaki looked at me laughing saying, "such a strange philosophy but one suited for a hashira none the less, I am excited to see where you go, Nikolaos Aristokles. I ask cause we Japanese have a similar code, one used by the samurai yes but a code we demon slayers follow too, we call this Bushido…do you wish for me to explain what bushido is?"

I nodded my head curiously.

Urokodaki then said, "Bushido is 8 virtues that must be followed to the Letter or else a samurai would be considered a ronin and forced to commit senpukku, these 8 virtues are Justice, Courage, mercy, Politness, honesty, honor, loyalty, and self control, these would evolve within the demon slayer core into the set of rules we live by, I only bring it up now cause I wish to see if you have a similar moral code"

I nodded and said, "we spartans are raised from birth to fight, but we're also raised together with the people who would become our brothers in a phalanx, each one of us depended on the other to strength our shields and as such our bond, even in modern times where Phalanx tactics are no longer used we still believe in strong brotherhood and a willingness to fight for our comrades and protect though too weak to defend themselves"

Urokodaki clapped his hands together and said, "good, very good so at least I know I am training someone worthy of being a demon slayer, the fact you did come across an upper moon is…surprising"

I laughed and said, "yeah I broke his back too! It was hilarious!"

Urokodaki laughed and said, "demons are a strange bunch yes, they heal really fast from wounds and even from broken bones but just like with steel, a very strong attack can leave it disabled or disfigured permanently, Nichirin weapons aren't the only things that can kill a demon, weapons laced with Wisteria and hard attacks such as your suplexes or the stone hashira's axe and spike flail can truly hurt or even kill the demon"

Smirking I said, "would you mind training me to make my Suplexes even more powerful and dangerous?"

Urokodaki laughed and said, "hahahaha you're the first person to ask that and your in luck, I would be honored to help with that move"

Within the week it was time to go for the final selection, I had the training Rengoku, Urokodaki, and even the butterfly sisters gave me.

As I got ready to go Urokodaki looked at me and said, "take your spear and shield, but your armor leave it here"

Confused I looked at him and said, "what? Wait sensei why?"

Urokodaki started to take my helmet and put it in a cabinet and said, "you rely on the strength of your armor to much, even though you fight strong I think sometime without your armor would be good for you"

I sighed in defeat giving up my armor and putting on some basic clothing that Urokodaki provided for me.

"there is one thing however I must ask of you Nikolaos" Urokodaki asked me.

Looking at him with a smile I said, "what is it sensei?"

Urokodaki then handed me a cat mask and said, "as I have a feeling you rather not wear it I will ask you to look for one of these in the forest during the final selection…a powerful demon ate a person wearing this and…I wish for their mask back so I may give them some form of a burial"

I nodded my head and said, "it will be done sensei" and headed out till I can across a wonderful place with Wisteria flowers in full bloom, these must be what keeps demons at bay.

I looked around at the other candidates all with katanas all looking at me like I was an outcast, their stares didn't bother me one bit however as I knew they had just never seen a Greek before, so this was like a new species to them. Looking at my spear and shield I was ready for this fight, even though they were made only with bronze I am sure they'll still hold true and if not, my nichirin dagger should be enough to kill them.

Soon two sisters came forward and explained what was going to happen for the next…week I think? They were speaking Japanese and using the booklet shinobu gave me I was able to get a couple words out of it such as the fact that we would be in there for a week…I actually gave up at one point trying to figure out what they were saying and just followed what everyone else was doing rushing in to the forest to kill demons.

It was times like this I wished I had a translator cause I was about to cry over not being able to understand Japanese….it feels like 2 years but yet I still don't understand Japanese….i hate myself and how my brain works sometimes, I mean I can understand complex battle strategies and how to fight and philosophy but yet, when it comes to languages I can't understand jack!

Rushing through the night I hunted down demons happily thrusting my spear into some and bashing others with my shield, some demons however were stronger than I expected leaving dents in the shield till finally it broke. Holstering its remains on my back I unsheathed the Nichirin dagger and lunged forwards spear in my strong hand skewering demons and using the dagger to finish them off.

"Pantheon breathing style, 3rd form, Hades rage!" I shouted watching the dagger catch on fire with the screams of those rotting away in the underworld while using the dagger to cut the demons in my path.

"shame…you would think demons like these would put up a fight, I guess I was wrong" I sighed picking up my spear and rushing into the night.

As I did I came across a rather sad sight, a cat mask, covered in blood, I recognized it. It belonged to one of Urokodaki's students.

Somberly I picked up the mask and put it away before continuing my trek. For the next week I fought demons and barely slept living off lamb meat and water to get me through the nights.

The week went by easily for me and a bunch of the demons were starting to fear me and my aggressive style of fighting and more importantly the ones who got away from me I saw limping now complaining about back problems from the suplex which made me laugh cause if what Urokodaki and Rengoku was true then demons regenerate from their wounds….and yet these ones have back problems and watching them look like they're having a panic attack as I got closer made me laugh like crazy as they ran away from me.

At the very end of the ceremony, I walked up and looked at the ore and said, "is it possible to select more than just one ore by chance? My style of fighting is…well I wish to have my spear and kopis reforged using the Scarlet ore, I don't wish for a katana…and if possible if you have the bronze for it or extra scarlet ore is it possible to reforge my shield it took too much damage to be used and a spartan without a shield isn't a spartan at all"

This intrigued the twins who looked at me and said, "it shall be done, if you would please leave your spear shield and Kopis with us and select the ore you wish to use our swordsmiths shall take it into account and make your weapons exactly as they are"

Grinning ear to ear I laughed and said, "perfect!"

I then walked up and felt a connection of sorts to some of the ore, and noticed specks of bronze in some of them and chose three ores, two for my spear, and one for my kopis. They were perfect for me.

Handing the ores to the ladies and getting fitted for my demon slayer corps uniform I bowed and left the area and returned down the mountain to Urokodaki's place where we chatted and I recounted tales from my homeland missing it fondly.

"I'm glad to see you made it Nikolaos, you did well, yet it is a shame you didn't find that mutated demon" Urokodaki sighed.

I sighed pulling out one of his pupils masks and said, "I am sorry…Urokodaki sensei…this was all I could find…"

Urokodaki took it and bowed before putting it away and saying, "so…how do you like Japan so far, it must be a big difference from Greece"

I nodded my head chuckling saying, "the fact that there is not a single olive tree here is strange, but the seasons feel…calmer than they do back home as if the gods aren't as aggressive as the ones back home"

15 days passed by quickly and soon a man dressed in a tan kimono with sun patterns wearing a mask and a bamboo hat approached Urokadaki's place And bowed saying, "my name is Hagenezuka, I am the one who forged the spear, kopis and shield for Nikolaos Aristokles I am here to deliver them."

Bowing back I smiled and said, "that would be me, I am Nikolaos"

Hagenezuka went into a full rant about how it took him many days to figure out the craftmanship behind the kopis as it was unique, brutal, and destructive in nature but paired well with the spear and shield.

Whistling I unwrapped the shield first and watched in awe as the black shield changed colors into the bronze with the red insignia of Sparta I was used too and the spear…. the spear was amazing, they had made it almost like a blade capable of slashing and hacking but still sharp pointed to keep foes at bay, the blade turned to a gradient silver.

Hagenezuka chuckled and said, "the spear was hard to make as we had to find wood suitable enough for the shaft, we made it from Ash wood, the most durable of woods and gave it a smaller spear head at the bottom should the top break somehow and made it of durable nichirin and bronze, a weapon worthy of the mighty spartan!"

Grinning ear to ear I put my shield on my back and went outside to test the spear and was in awe of the thrust as I could feel the power, the fire, the rage and the balance of it, no master blacksmith of Greece could come close to this level of craftmanship.

Soon my sparrowhawk flew in and landed on my shoulder saying, "Nikolaos of sparta I come bearing orders!"

This shocked me a bit as I had never heard a bird talk. However, I did decide to name him, Kotoyami.

Kotoyami continued saying, "you are to head to a village southwest of here, there are men going insane in the middle of the night screaming bloody murder, and by morning they vanish, this has been going on for many nights, Nikolaos Aristokles prepare yourself well! This will be your first mission in the demon slayer corps!"

Grinning I walked over to a closet where Urokodaki kept my armor and said, "it is time…old friend" before breaking the door open and looking at my pristine bronze armor kept polished as if they had never been worn and put my gear on taking off my jacket and attaching the breastplate the gauntlets and greaves I felt like a new man, a well-armed man.

Urokodaki then said, "the village is 4 days away hope you are ready!"

Grinning I said, "with a long march I should be there in two, I am ready!"

Urokodaki looked at me annoyed and said, "you know you are supposed to wear your demon slayer attired right!"

Laughing I said, "I know but, I choose not to as it is to cumbersome to fight in with my style, so I'll just do this"

I then tear it and make it into part of my skirt and look at a now really angry Urokodaki and said, "trust me this is the closest your gonna get to me actually wearing it…sorry sensei"

Urokodaki sighed in a very annoyed tone and said, "damn you but no matter you'll go far I have a feeling you will, just be careful as without the demon slayer clothing you run the risk of being bitten and turned by demons…I'll talk to the people I know about getting you a custom made shirt that fits with your style of fighting".