—Right... lets see: Enough clean clothes for at least a week, some food, my canteen, Murasama and its sheathe... is there something else left? Oh right, money. Lets see, if I remember right there was my savings in my room and some money dad used to save up too.
I go to my bedroom and then to my desk, I open a little chest where I store all my yens, I put everything inside a leather bag that I handcrafted during one of my huntings. With all of my own savings, I go to my parents room. Once there I start looking inside all the drawers, closets and desks, while at it, I end up find a letter written to... me?
— To Samuel, good luck on your first hunting...
Hmm, I think they wanted to give it to me right before I went to my first hunting when I was 9 years old, let's read this:
"Dear Sam, here is mom, and here is dad, and here is mim big bro. We all wish you good luck on the journey you will make, we know it will be challenging and hard, even dangerous, but you trained for this, you're responsible and know how to take care of yourself, so we all have all the trust in this world on you and that you will turn out on top of whatever challenges comes along your way. Know we will always be cheering for you, know we well always be there with you, wherever you go, because we are your family and even if we cant support you phisically we will be there in spirit, always supporting you. We love you very very much, good luck Sam!"
Reading that I couldnt hold back my tears and they started dropping on that piece of paper. The letter was clearly written for when I went to hunt for the first time but... its a little ironic, even tragicomic that every bit of it applies to my current situation. I will keep this letter as an amulet, whenever I need it, it will be there with me no matter the ocasion, my family will always be with me as they said in the letter. I will honor them, I will avenge them!
- ️ -
Going out through the backyard door after finding my dad's money stash, I go once more to the graves of my family.
—Mom... Julius, Im so sorry for not being there to protect you two, the only thing I can do for you now is pray for your souls and hope you will be rewarded in your next lives. Be happy, be joyful, you deserve it. I promisse I will come back pay a visit if I come nearby.
I walk to my dad's grave and look at it with sadness in my eyes:
—Dad, I wasnt able to help the two of them, I couldnt protect my own family, but this error will be fixed, I wont allow this to happen to more and more families that was directly and undirectly hurt by that heartless monster. I know his name, I know his face, I will find and eliminate Kibutsuji Muzan and I will avenge our family. Dont worry about me, my life didnt lost its purpose, it just changed it. I must train to become stronger and do what no one before me could, kill Muzan.
Then after this I get up and turn my back, the doors and windows are closed and locked, no one will invade this place and not even the most rigorous winter's snow will get inside. I can depart calmly.
I then tie my bag to my back tightly, I breath deeply and strenghten my legs muscles with my technique at max potency. Thats one of the techniques I developed along with Speed Breathing, I call it Constant Running, a skill that allows me to increase the potency of my legs and abdominal muscles without them losing strenght, getting tired or painful. Its not as fast as even the slowest of the forms of my Speed Breathing, but its already very impressive for a normal human. With this, I ran towards the road and to my next objective.
- ️ -
Some days pass by since I departed home heading to Tokyo. According to the informations I got from a fellow traveller going the opposite way, I should be almost there, what is good because my food provisions are almost over and I didnt had a good sleep ever since because I had to sleep in improvised tents and in tree branches to protect myself agains predators.
Is that shining...? Is that it? YEAH, IT IS! Tokyo city, Japan's City of Lights. Right, I think a rush there wont scare up anyone. I sprint towards the city despite being so tired as I now get revigoraterd by the fact of being so close to civilizations after such a long time.
Oh the famous Tokyo. Ever since Brazil Ive heard about this city so beatiful and splendid, and its not an exageration. I have came here a few times with my dad when we needed to buy furniture and expensive things for our house, but always in in some wagon.
Right... a journey to the south of Japan. I believe what Im carrying wont be as near as enough for the rest of the journey. I should by some supplies and new things. I've hears about this thing called backpack, some sort of bag we can carry in our backs but way more comfortably, I will look into that first.
After a few minutes browsing the shops, I find one with leather and cloth products and I see some models of backpacks, I find a good one, made with leather that makes it waterproof, very comfortable with fur and hay paddings and with a loot of empty space to store things. I spent some good money, but I did bought the backpack, it seems great.
Continuing my shopping, I buy a good futon, very light and compact, not the best one but better than sleeping on the ground. I also get a good bamboo tent to make a better shelter in cold of rainy days, a mortar and pestle to make medicine, we never know when these things will be needed. To top it all, some supplies, a lot of food, a pan and kettle to cook it and some spices.
With everything well shoved inside the backpack, I leave the store and end up bumping into someone that was walking down the street, I immediately start apologizing without even looking at the person, but at the exact moment I lay my eyes on him...
FUCK!
NO. NO! NOT HERE, NOT HIM!
Looking at the face of the man I just bumped into I see the same face I saw in that Oni's full of fear eyes that I killed in my house. Its him! MUZAN KIBUTSUJI!
In the split second I realised it, I managed to hold my emotions, I noticed something very very scary, something I have never seen before, not even with the Hashira that showed up in my house: An immense aura of power, dense and lethal, showing just how big the difference between our capacities were. I cant let him percieve me as an enemy, I will die before even realizing it. Time to act.
—I-Im sorry sir, I was just leaving the shop a little distracted and didnt noticed you. I beg your pardon.
—Are you alright boy? Need something? — damn it, I must have left some expression or worry transpire through my acting. What should I say?
—N-no, I just tought your face was really alike of that someone I know, I missed you for him for an instant.
—Oh yes, may I ask you who is this person that looks like me if you dont mind?
—My uncle sir — I lied, I dont even have an uncle — he was my mom's brother so me and him dont look much like each other, and he was very close to your appearance when he was alive.
— I see... — his eyes then widen up, oh fuck, I must have screwed up — Kiddo, this sword that you carry? Is this a family heirloom? Theyre not very common nowadays.
—Y-yeah, its a family relic, it was my father's before me, and his father's before him.
—Interesting. Right, bye kid, I must go now.
Muzan then reunited with a very young woman, not past her 20s and her daughter being carried in her arms, they look like a family together. Disgusting, I bet he just uses them like damn puppets. I wish I could save them, but they could be demons too, so I better leave for now.
I turn around in a corner and climb up in some roofs, and then I feel the weird sensation of someone watching me. He is probably thinking its weird how fast I vanished... damn, I must be extra careful tonight.
- ️ -
Later, having already left Tokyo and being some miles away from it, I finish preparing my newbought tent and a good meal for me with some meat I had from hunting a deer the other day. The branches "scarecrow" I made is already inside the tent, if Muzan sent any demon to search or kill me, this will act as a decoy. I know he will do something, there was a weird fluctuation in his aura when he saw my sword... something tells me there are something with my japanese ancestors and Muzan, Ill investigate this later, for now, I must pay attention to the small steps in my mission.
Wait... what is this sound? There's someone coming here...
From the treetops I watch calmly as two people approach, one male and one female. One of them seems to be somehow searching the ground with his hands... could he be able to see traces just like I do? The other one seems to have exceptional physical strenght, at least two times as strong as the demon I killed in my house. Right... Im gonna have to do this quickly, that guy with the weird hands, despite everything, seems to be the real threat. Right, I'll start with him.
He keeps searching the ground with his hands and as soon as they enter my range of attack, I lean against the branch and I jump in their direction, making a straight vertical cut and chopping off the male demon's hands. As soon as they fall on the ground I confirm my theory, there are eyes on each palm.
—W-who dares?! Oh... its you, youre the one our lord tasked to eliminate!
—So Kibutsuji really asked you to kill me? How interesting... lets see you try!
With my katana in the sheathe and my left arm leaning on it, I show the demons some debauchery, as if I didnt even considered them a challenge, everything goes with my battle strategy, let them get angry to leave their guards open.
—What have you done to my hands? Theyre not burning as if they were cut by a Nichirin but... why arent they regenerating?
—Just a little something called Wysteria posion, I made some with my mortar and pestle just before you arrived and I covered my Murasama with it. It wont kill you of course, but the poison will stop you from regenerating, and its past 4AM, soon the Sun will rise and you will be dead.
—Fool, you wouldnt be able to defeat one of us, let alone both! — the female demon replies
—We will see — I unsheathe my sword — I mean... your little friend right there wont hahahaha.
The female demon then grabs a wicker basket of Temaris from her back, and as she seems to struggle with some internal strenght, suddenly four more arms pop out of her main body.
She then grabs the small decorated balls, also known as Temaris, and surprisingly as she grabs them, they grow to the size of soccer balls.
Holding six in total, one for each of her hands, she screams:
—TAKE THIS!
She spins her body and I see the muscular contraction of her arms and shoulders, she then throws three of the balls with immense strenght agains me.
Knowing they suddenly increased in size, I deduce theyre not normal Temaris, they even have a small magical aura around them, so I better strike them at once. Then, as soon as they approach me:
—Sokudo no Kokyu: Ichi no Kata: IAIJUTSU!
(Speed Breathing: First Form: Unsheathe)
With this movement of extreme speed and precision, I use the old technique of the Iaijutsu, or Unsheathe, a movement that combines the act of unsheathing a sword with an upper diagonal slash, making me able to cut each of the Temaris with a single clean cut.
—H-how did you...? My Temaris got the most amazing reaction speed in the world!
—Huh, apparently theyre not enough for my speed then.
—You damn brat...
She prepares the other three balls in her hands and with her three free hands she does some weird movements. Suddenly with my peripheral vision I notice the cutten halves of the Temaris aorund me starting to move on their own:
—Lets see how can you deal with nine of my lethal projectiles you fool!
Coming from the front, the left and the right, nine total projectiles thrust against me, there is only one way to deal with this!
—Sokudo no Kokyu: Nana no Kata: Zendatsu
(Speed Breathing: Seventh Form: Cut and Gather)
The fastest of the Speed Breathing forms, Zendatsu. It requires that I hold Murasama's handle with both of my hands to be executed, as it works with vastly extreme precision strikes, and I would surely be the only one able to use it given it requires my superhuman eyes, the only ones capable of seeing at such extreme speeds, for it to work properly.
As the Temaris approach me almost in slow motion, I start cutting them with unbelievable speed and easely as possible given theyre almost not moving in my perspective. While at it I end up cutting enough to find little metal bells inside the Temaris and I pull them off with the tip of mu sword. I finish the movement and all the balls are completly slaughtered around me
—What?! How were you so fast? Not even the Thunder breathing users are that fast! — she tries to control the Temaris, but they dont move at all — Why arent they obeying my commands?
— Are you looking for these? — I show her the 6 metal bells in my hands, ripped from inside the balls
—I cant believe that...
I throw them upwards and with a clean slash, I cut all the metal bells in half, and they quickly vanish in a fine powder.
—YOU... YOU... DAMN BASTARD!
She gets totally out of control, letting rage take over her and she speeds against me fastly. Perfect. I breath deeply and harden my muscles, shoving my feet on the ground.
—Sokudo no Kokyu: Kyuu no Kata: Tatsumaki!
(Speed Breathing: Ninth Form: Tornado)
Using my right foot, I give my own body a rotating impulse while I stretch my arms and spin like a tornado. With five chained turns I cut each pair of arms and legs, as well as her head, leaving her litterally in pieces on the forest's ground.
I grab my backpack and from it a little knife, I grab the female Demon's head and I pin her on a tree with the knife crossing her hair, specifically on the eastern side of the tree, for it will kill her as soon as the sun rises.
I then go back to the other Oni that was speechless with the situation, his hands have already just finished regenerating, he must have just witnessed the strike that destroyed his friend in less than 0.5 seconds.
—Now I gotta deal with you...
—You... killed her?
—No, not yet. For you two unlucky guys, I dont have a Nichirin. Your deaths would have been much faster. You will suffer the same fate as her, fortunately for you, the lack of eyes on your head will let you unaware of the sun rise, leaving you free of the expectancy and fear.
—You think you can kill me? I... Im much superior to her!
— Then come on! Lets DANCE!
The demon then raises his hands and quickly reacts, when the eyes in his hands blink, a weird auraic energy flows from his hands in my direction. I cant really see anything beyond its magical energy, but logically I prepare to cut whatever it is. As it arrives and I try to cut it, as soon as my sword's blade touches the aura, it gets shoved off my hands by a huge force, almost as if that energy was an "unstoppable force"
—Fool boy, my arrow kekkijutsu was able to disarm you, you represent no more threat to me. You cannot stop me anymore!
—Hum, you seem to mistakenly assume I depend on my sword to fight... how curious. Let me show you the power of Capoeira!
I then use the running form of the speed breathing and I graciously cut the distance between us, the demon shoots a lot more of the invisible arrows against me but I easely dodge them all with my quick advanced reflexes.
Fifteen feet
Ten feet
Three feet
As sson as I get close enough I get down and use the momentum from the running to throw a spinning upper kick right to his throat, making him stunned by the hit. Instinctivelly he gets his hands on his neck as he tries to breathe again, trying to recover from the blow, by I use this opening to throw another kicky to his hands that are now together, making the fragile eyeballs in his hands pop with the impact, leaving him debilitated.
I walk back and retrieve my sword and when I come back, he is almost done regenerating.
—You clearly are not as good as you thought, I wish you better luck on your next life. Sokudo no Kokyu: Juuichi no Kata: Kimetsu no Yaiba
(Speed Breathing: Eleventh Form: Demon Slayer)
My last and most complex form, the Eleventh form is contradictory simple. It is basically the combination of the ten previous Forms in an specific order, having as the main purpose drain the energy from a demon by using a special wysteria reversed poison to force demons to regenerate without control, allowing me to cut their limbs multiple times, leaving them debilitated.
I quickly execute the Ten forms in a peculiar sequence, from the 7th to the 9th form and then from the 1st to the 6th form, finalizing with a Zendatsu.
The extremly fast shows to be very efficient in its purpose by the end of the series of consecutive slashes, leaving as a final product a bodyless head with no energy to regenerate any further. I then grab it by the hairs:
—You know, this is very curious, you two would be a serious threat to any normal Slayer, even some gifted ones. Unfortunately for you, I am too fast for you to keep up, I trained for years for this.
—Well... at least we didnt lost to a fucking nobody.
—Listen, I hold no anger towards the two of you, you came here ordered by Muzan, I know you cant disobey a direct order from him, and you didnt even managed to hurt me in the fight so... Ill let you decide how you want to die. That demon girl...
—Susamaru?
—That's her name? Anyway, she seemed to be a little annoying, and maybe you two are a little problematic duo, who has their differences and that may lead to some fights. So I will give you two options, you can either die close to her, or far from her, its your choice.
—My only advantage right now is my blindness, I cant see with my face eyes, only my hand eyes, but you must have cut the eyeballs because I cant see anything. Susamaru will probably mess with me saying the sun is getting closer only to make me worry, but I dont care, she is a good friend and if I am to die, let it be by her side.
—Right, as you wish.
—Wait, before you go, shall I know your name Slayer?
—The name is Samuel Rodrigues.
—Right Samuel, I am Yahaba, now get my head next to Susamaru's and continue your mission, whatever it is. Thanks for allowing me to choose.
—Its nothing Yahaba, as I said, good luck on your next life.
I walk to the three where I left Susamaru's head and with a identical knife I also put his head pinned on the tree's eastern side. Both will die here in an hour or so, looking at the sunrise one last time.
I leave them and hear them talking to each other for the last time and I get back to my little camp, packing my things. Time to head south.
**『To be continued...』**