Born without magic in a world where magic is everything, a young boy named Asta is bullied and mocked for that very reason. In order to compensate for his inability to use magic, he started training his body at the age of 4. 2 years later, while tra...
Shinobu hanged out at the spring until dusk before we parted ways, and the fifth night of Final Selection began. I began walking through the mountain forest and it was only until I saw another examinee. It was a boy with spiky, white hair, pale purple eyes and two large scars running horizontally from the right side of his face. He was fighting two demons on his own. He dodged and blocked all their attacks and even pushed them back. He jumped back so the demons would be in front of him when they rushed him. They did charge him and he said as he launched his attack.
Wind Breathing First Form: Dust Whirlwind Cutter!
He rushed them head on and delivered numerous horizontal slashes in a cyclone pattern, which sliced through the demons necks and they began to disappear. He sheathed his sword, and looked at the demons in disgust. I walked toward him and said, "Yo!" He turned to me and said, "What are you doing here, kid? This isn't a playground." I replied, "I know, I'm here for the same reason as you." He was surprised by what I said. "You're here to become a Demon Slayer?" A little kid like you?" He asked. I nodded. "Let's talk more during the day. For now, we need to keep our guard up, we don't know how many demons are left in here." I said, "Alright." We walked around until dawn.
I told him to follow me to the spring, so we could rest. He did so and we arrived after a half hour of walking. He went to the water and got a drink. I decided to introduce myself, "I'm Asta by the way." He turned and said, "My name is Sanemi Shinazugawa." We talked as we picked fruit for breakfast. I told him why I wanted to be a Demon Slayer, and he told me his reasons. "I was the oldest of seven siblings, we lived with our parents. My father was very abusive and always lashed out me, my siblings, and my mother until someone with a grudge killed my father. After that, me and my brother Genya decided to support our mother and family. One day, our mother didn't return home, so I went to look for her. I eventually found her and realized that she had become a Demon, but I couldn't stop her from getting back home and killing five of my siblings. Before she could kill my last sibling, my brother, Genya, I tackled her through a window and we fell to the street with a knife in my hand. While fighting her off, she gave me the scars on my face. What struck me as odd at the time was that after I was cut by her claws, she became disoriented and looked like she was intoxicated by the smell of my blood. Taking advantage of that, I cut her down." I was shocked to hear that he killed his own mother, even though she had become a Demon. He continued, "When Genya ran to the streets to find a doctor for our siblings, he saw me standing over our mother's dead body. He panicked, screamed, and accused me of murdering our mother. While I was still in shock of what I did, and became partly colorblind as my mother was dissolved by the morning sun. After that incident, I left my brother and began hunting demons on my own. At the time, I didn't know about Demon Slayers or their swords. I just armed myself with a large assortment of weapons and fought demons at night, and either capture or incapacitate them until the sun rose and killed them. I wandered around doing so until I met a Demon Slayer, he helped me and brought me to a proper trainer. I completed my training and here I am now." Taking everything I heard from him, I asked, "You want to be a Demon Slayer to keep the tragedy that befell your family from happening again?" He nodded. I said, "Well, I can't say I approve of you killing your mother, but I understand your reasons. Just before you die, please try to talk with your brother. At least ask him for forgiveness." He thought about what I said to him, and Sanemi replied, "Alright, I'll try." We just lounged around the spring for the rest of the day, and went our separate ways at dusk.
For the rest of the exam, nothing eventful happened. I made my way back to the starting point of Final Selection. I saw that among the 30 people who took the exam, only 6 of us managed to survive. That sight made me realize how dangerous Final Selection really was. I took another look around realized that everyone present were the people I met during the week. Obanai, Mitsuri, Kyojuro, Shinobu, and Sanemi. Obanai saw me and made his way over. He said, "Asta, good to see you alive, kid." I replied, "Good to see you alive too, Obanai." Our conversation was cut short when a voice called out, "Welcome back, everyone." We all turned to see the same woman we saw at the beginning of Final Selection. She said, "Congratulations, I'm pleased to see you all are safe." I asked her, "Excuse me, now that we've all come back alive, what do we do next?" Kyojuro concurred, "Yes, I'm curious about that myself." She began explaining the next agenda, "First, we will issue your uniforms. We'll start by taking your measurements. Next, your rank will be engraved on the back of your hand. For your reference, there are 10 ranks in total. From top to bottom they are:
Kinoe
Kinoto
Hinoe Hinoto
Tsuchinoe
Tsuchinoto
Kanoe
Kanoto
Mizunoe
Mizunoto
You all start at MIZUNOTO, this is the lowest rank in the Demon Slayer Corps. Now, next....." She clapped her hands and we heard cawing coming at us from above. We looked up and saw it was a flock of six crows, each one landed and perched itself on our shoulders. "....now that you're all Demon Slayers, you each must be assigned a Kasugai Crow." I asked, "What are the crows for?" She explained, "The Kasugai Crows are primarily used to facilitate communication, you will often receive your assignments via the crows." She turned around and walked behind a table with a cloth over it. She removed it to reveal a total of 30 ore. We walked up to the table and she said, "It is time for you all to select an ore for your swords. The steel you will use to protect yourselves and annihilate countless demons will be that of your own choosing." I was confused about which one should I choose, because it was my first time seeing ore. The others were confused as well. I thought that maybe if I use my other senses, not just my eyes, I could pick one out. I did just that and I picked my ore, the others did the same to pick their ore. I sensed the Ki of many people coming closer to us. They came into view and I saw they were all wearing the same uniform, and their faces wearing covered with masks.
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The woman introduced them, "These are the Kakushi, they are the attendants of the Demon Slayer Corps. They are here to take your measurements for your uniforms and deliver your ore to the swordsmiths who will forge your weapons." They took our measurements and ore. They asked us our names and where to find us so that they know where to deliver our swords. We introduced ourselves and everything went smoothly, our ranks were engraved on our hands and we all received our uniforms. We were then told head home and wait for our swords to be delivered.
