Conqueror Among Demons: Demon Slayer x Male Reader

Chapter 8: Humans & Demons

"Hah...! Hah...! Hah...! Hah...!" A cadence was chanted to match the sound of a blade being slashed through the air repeatedly as drops of sweat pelted the dirt that was underneath.

"Alright, that's enough." Your voice called as two pairs of exhausted sighs filled the air as you watched Lynn and Tanjirou collapse to their knees in exhaustion.

It had been a day and a half since Tanjirou and Lynn were both given the okay to resume their basic training to restore themselves to one hundred percent functionality. Seeing that Lynn was being trained to become stronger by you, Tanjirou begged his comrade to at least convince you to let him be around you two while you trained Lynn, and he would follow along, seeing it as a good opportunity to try and learn somethings from someone else and add additional moves to his arsenal. At first, you wanted to squash him and throw him aside, but Lynn convinced you otherwise and you just chose to ignore his existence entirely, which Tanjirou was more than grateful enough instead of being squished. The training was grueling for the two as on top of that, they were also training their breathing to maintain Total Concentration Breathing, Constant. They gasped for air and struggled to stand as you walked away from them to rest nearby under a tree.

"I feel like...dying..." Tanjirou gasped as Lynn leaned back while heavily breathing in as much air as she could.

"As expected...from someone like my lord..." Lynn said as the two hobbled back to the perch of the nearby house and sat down before taking gulps of medicinal water from the gourds they had.

"Ahhh!" Tanjirou gasped in relief as he leaned back using one arm to support him from behind. "By the way, Lynn-san..." He trailed off as Lynn looked at him when he called her name. "...What style of breathing do you use? I've been curious to know since we got to know each other better here." He asked with curiosity as Lynn was surprised by this and a little perplexed.

"Ahh, that..." Lynn trailed off a little unsure of how to answer. "...To tell you the truth, I haven't learned any style of breathing yet. I've been relying on just the most fundamental techniques a swordsman can use..." She admitted as Tanjirou was shocked by this information.

"Huh? Really? That's amazing. You've managed to come so far without even learning a breathing style. I'm a bit envious." Tanjirou admitted as Lynn looked at him with confusion.

"No...I'd say that I've been lucky up until now. I barely managed to make out of that mountain alive. I think I would've been a goner if Lord Y/N hadn't slain the lower moon demon that was on that mountain." Lynn said while admiring you from afar. "If I wanna have any sort of chance of reaching my goal of avenging my family, I have to get stronger and learn a breathing form soon." She said while looking down at her own hands in somewhat disappointment.

"I know!" Tanjirou said in a loud voice as this surprised Lynn.

"W-What?" Lynn asked in shock as he stared at her with a huge smile.

"Why don't you make your own?" Tanjirou suggested as Lynn was shocked by this advice.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Lynn asked with a raised brow while taking another sip of water.

"Ah! Sorry, I should've worded that more specifically..." Tanjirou said while scratching his head awkwardly. "...What I meant was that maybe you should couple your breathing style to moves that you learned from from Lord Y/N. You could create a whole new breathing form based around him." Tanjirou said as Lynn turned her head to watch you in the distance.

"A new breathing form based on my Lord..." Lynn contemplated deeply on the thought as she turned back to Tanjirou. "...but, what would I even call it? My form needs a name and how many styles should I create? There's too many complications..." Lynn said in confusion of the whole idea and what she should do.