Moonlight

Three

Sara's blade slashed through thin air.

Confused, she quickly scanned the surrounding area. She was still in the woods; nothing had changed. It was only when Sun began to reveal itself over the horizon that Sara realised the demon had escaped.

She had prolonged the battle for too long. If she hadn't wasted time listening to its worthless speech, she might have been able to kill it. In a usual setting, Sara would have been more angry at herself, but this time, she was more excited at the fact that she had passed Final Selection.

Her thoughts were confirmed when a crow swooped overhead.

"CAW!! CAW!! Final Selection is over!!! Head down the mountain NOW!!!"

Letting out a breath she didn't realise she was holding, Sara sheathed her sword and slowly walked down the mountain.

She had been neglecting the state of her body during her entire time on the mountain, but now she realised how terribly exhausted she was when she almost collapsed as she made her way down.

Soon, she arrived at the clearing along with five other candidates.

Only six of us survived? There were at least twenty of us to begin with.

The two girls greeted them once again.

"Welcome back. Congratulations. We're pleased to see that you're safe."

"First, we shall issue you all uniforms. We will take your measurements, after which your rank will be engraved."

"There are ten ranks in all."

"Kinoe."

"Kinoto."

"Hinoe."

"Hinoto."

"Tsuchinoe."

"Tsuchinoto."

"Kanoe."

"Kanoto."

"Mizunoe."

"...and Mizunoto."

"Currently, you are at the lowest rank, Mizunoto. Today, you will choose the ore for your katanas. However, the swords will take ten to fifteen days to complete. But first..."

The white-haired girl clapped her hands twice and six crows proceeded to fly down, each landing on one of their shoulders. A boy shrieked as his bird cawed at him. Maybe he was scared of birds.

"We will now assign each of you your own Kasugai Crow. These crows can be used primarily in communication."

Sara examined the crow that was now perched on her arm. It didn't seem like anything special, it just looked like an annoying pet she had to look after. If it was assigned to them by the Demon Slayer Corps, though, she trusted that they would prove to be useful.

The dark-haired girl lifted the cloth on a table, revealing a large array of ores.

"Now then, please choose an ore. The ore for the sword that will annihilate demons and protect you will be of your own choosing."

Having no knowledge of ores, Sara took her time to study each chunk carefully. She could tell that every ore was different and unique; the type of aura that each ore emitted was interesting.

This would sound strange to a normal human, but Sara always had a sixth sense that was able to detect the presence of living beings. At only a young age, even if someone was great at being able to conceal their presence, nobody could never hope to sneak up to her without being noticed.