A demon slayer story

Chapter 12: Steel

Tanjiro's head was cut open where his scar usually was, covering half his face in blood.
I opted to stay and watch for a moment before intervening.
"What a sad scent..."He whispered, taking one the large demons many hands into his own as it disintegrated away.
I then decided to approach, putting a hand on his shoulder."You did great out there"
I smiled.

I myself was covered in sludge and blood, not nearly as much as Tanjiro, though.

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The next six days went by rapidly, I barely had time to even think about completing the challenge with all of the demons though.Me and Tanjiro decided to team back up, we thought it might take a little pressure off of us if we worked as a team.
Soon enough, the trial was over and we had ran straight into the wisteria forest, hunching over for breath.
Tanjiro sniffed the air, sanding up straight as he realised we made it back, that we were alive and had completed final selection.

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An altar, only a few of us had made it out alive.The butterfly girl, Me, Tanjiro, Mohawk guy and Zenitsu.How sad, we all had high hopes going in while many never made it back out alive.We had started with over 20, and now there were five...

Me and Tanjiro looked around, I gave Zenitsu a wave and he mouthed the words 'thank you'.I assumed he meant for the few times I had seen him and got him back on his feet before sending him off.

"I'm gonna die, I'm done for...I've survived for now but soon enough, Dead"Zenitsu enlightened us all.The scariest part was, he was right.There was no way to tell whether we were going to die soon or not.

The two girls from the days before, the white and black haired ones approached the Altar, their faces with no emotions, only a constant smile they couldn't seem to shake.
"And congratulations, we're pleased to see you're safe"they said in turns before Mohawk interrupted them."So,I made it back alive, what do I do now?Wheres my sword?"
Don't me so rude, I felt like saying but the two girls took the words right out my mouth.
"Patience, we must first issue you all uniforms.We'll start by taking your measurements.Next, your rank will be engraved on the back of your hand"
My eyes widened a little at that.Back of my hand?Why would you carve into my hand?!
"For your reference, there are ten ranks in total, Kinoe, Kinoto, Hinoe, Hinoto, Tsuchinoe, Tsuchinoto, Kanoe, Kanoto, Mizunoe and Mizunoto.You all start at Mizunoto, this is the lowest rank in the demon slayer corp."
"And our swords?"
What is it with this guy and swords!
"In a moment, you will be given the chance to select the ore that will be used to forge your swords.However, I will be 10-15 days before te weapons are ready for you.But first-"the girls said before clapping and a flock of crows flew towards us.Of course, there were exceptions.Zenitsu got a little sparrow while I was reunited with Atlas after 7 long days.
"Now that you're demon slayers, you must each be assigned your own Kasugai crow"
"We get crows then?What for?"Tanjiro asked, I was thinking the same thing.
"The Kasugai crows are primarily used to facilitate communication"
"Wait...crows?Isn't this a sparrow?"Zenitsu asked, a confused look on his face.
"I don't need this crap!"Mohawk shouted, angrily stomping towards the two girls."Who the hell cares about some stupid crow!"
He grabbed the white haired girl by her hair.She didn't...react.He began to talk straight into her face "I want my sword right now, give it to me before I get angry.The colour changing Katana!I want it now!Do you hear me?"
He would've continued hadn't Tanjiro grabbed his arm.
"Take your hand off her, or I'll break your arm.Now!"
Mohawk stuttered for a moment before he tried to challenge Tanjiro, at which point I grabbed his other arm.
"Have you no manners?Did no one ever teach you it's rude to grab people?Quit whining like a spoiled little brat about a sword, she said it takes time she can't magically make one just because some guy throws a fit!"
Tanjiro nodded and we both pulled his hand off of the little girl.

"Are you finished chatting with eachother?"the black haired girl asked, still with that smile on her face.All of us looked at her, a slight twinge of confusion.

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They uncovered the ores, many rocks lay out across the altar for us to choose from.
"Now the time has come, please select an ore to use for your sword.The steel you will use to yourself and to annihilate countless demons will be that of your own choosing."

We took a look over the ores.They wanted us to choose, but how were we supposed to pick one? I'd never seen an ore before so how was I to know which one I'd like my sword to be made from?

Tanjiro sniffed the air, stepping forward and picking up an ore, to which we all followed.I grabbed a chunky looking ore with some sort of shimmer on the edges, turning to the two girls to acknowledge that I had chosen with a sweet smile to which they only stared back with their unchanging blank expression.

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Me and Tanjiro started to make our way back to Urokodaki, only with slight struggle due to him being on crutches from that huge demon on the first day of selection."I was so naive...I couldn't even get a demon to talk to me..."He muttered.I knew full well what he was talking about.He had been asking demons if they knew of any cure for Nezuko.I pitied him, I really did but a part of me wondered why he thought a demon would tell him even if it did know.But I stayed quiet, not wanting to ruin the last shred of hope he could still hold close to his soul.
"it's not your fault Tanjiro, they were starving and couldn't think straight to begin with"I smiled, patting his shoulder lightly as to not agitate any of his injuries."I'm no closer to finding a cure..."
I furrowed my brows, ruffling his hair."Don't mope Tanjiro, we'll have plenty more chances to get some answers when we're on real missions" I smiled, trying to lighten the mood.It was no use, though, he was stubborn as ever and still shuffling through the field.

Suddenly, he fell to the floor.I looked at him with slight worry."My uniform feels heavy..."
I kneeled beside him, combing my fingers through his hair."Do you wanna just lie here for a minute?"
He nodded.

After a few minutes, he Lot me help him up and he hobbled on his crutch again.In theory, I probably could have picked him up after all of Urokodaki's training, but he seemed so determined to make it alone that I just stayed close by as a crutch if he needed me.