Demon Slayer: I Level Up Alone

Chapter 12

"Master Sakonoji, I've brought him."

Akito led Tanjiro into the wooden house.

Suddenly, Sakonoji Urokodaki appeared in front of Tanjiro, staring intently at him.

The red tengu mask suddenly came into view, startling Tanjiro.

"Hello, Mr. Sakonoji, I am Tanjiro Kamado, and this is my sister, Nezuko Kamado..."

Tanjiro deeply bowed to Sakonoji Urokodaki.

Then he set down the basket and softly called out to Nezuko, "Nezuko... Nezuko, wake up..."

But no matter how much Tanjiro called, Nezuko remained completely still.

Tanjiro began to panic, thinking something had happened to Nezuko, and hurriedly asked Sakonoji Urokodaki what was wrong with her.

At the same time, a thought crossed his mind—could it be that the pill Akito gave her caused Nezuko to end up like this?

However, after examining her, Sakonoji Urokodaki slowly said, "Your sister is fine; she just hasn't had a source of energy for a long time, which has made her body very weak, causing her to fall into a deep sleep."

"But strangely, there seems to be another faint power within her that is continuously supplying her."

"Tanjiro, has Nezuko eaten anything, or perhaps human flesh?"

Sakonoji Urokodaki asked seriously.

In Sakonoji Urokodaki's view, if Nezuko had eaten human flesh, he would have to take action against it.

No matter what, he couldn't leave Nezuko here.

Tanjiro realized the seriousness of the situation and quickly replied, "No, Mr. Sakonoji, Nezuko has never eaten human flesh, only the elixir given by Akito..."

Akito was also a bit puzzled, not expecting that the healing elixir from the system could also provide energy to Nezuko. No wonder he was so eager to have another one at that time.

"Master Sakonoji, it should be." He then took out a healing elixir from the system space.

He explained the effects of the healing elixir to Sakonoji Urokodaki.

The fragrance of the elixir instantly filled Sakonoji Urokodaki's sensitive nose.

"Akito, where did you get this elixir? Just a whiff makes me feel my internal injuries starting to recover; this is simply a miraculous medicine. How many do you have left? Can it be mass-produced? If it can be mass-produced, I hope you can let me pass it on to the organisation to have specialists research it for mass production."

"This would not only provide more assurance for those heroes fighting against demons but also give hope to those with internal injuries."

Sakonoji Urokodaki looked at Akito with anticipation.

Akito was somewhat indifferent and took out a few more healing elixirs to give to Sakonoji Urokodaki.

But Sakonoji Urokodaki asked where the elixirs came from.

Akito found himself in a bit of a dilemma; he couldn't just say it was obtained from his lucky system lottery.

Seeing Akito's hesitation, Sakonoji Urokodaki stopped pressing, after all, everyone has their own secrets.

After Sakonoji Urokodaki put away the healing elixirs, he began the questioning phase.

"Tanjiro, do you know that humans and demons cannot coexist? Demons only see humans as prey. What if your sister were to eat a person?"

Sakonoji Urokodaki asked seriously.

Tanjiro was momentarily stunned, seemingly not having considered that his sister might one day eat someone.

"Smack!"

Sakonoji Urokodaki slapped Tanjiro on the shoulder and angrily scolded, "If you find that question too difficult to answer, it shows that you are too indecisive. You even pity man-eating demons, and you can't bring yourself to kill a demon; you want to wait until the sun comes up..."

Tanjiro looked incredulous, covering his slightly aching cheek.

"The reason you couldn't immediately answer the previous question is that you haven't prepared yourself. If one day your sister eats a person, you must take up your sword and kill her, then commit seppuku!"

Sakonoji Urokodaki shouted angrily.

"You must be prepared to make such a decision if you bring your sister, who has turned into a demon, along with you. But remember, this must never happen; you cannot let your sister take an innocent person's life. This is something that absolutely cannot happen!"

"Do you understand what I mean?"

"Yes!"

Tanjiro replied.

"Then from now on, let me see if you have the qualifications to become a demon-slaying swordsman!"

"Come in, take a rest; I will notify you for the assessment."

"Yes!"

Akito stood by, observing the conversation between the two as a bystander.

He felt that Sakonoji Urokodaki's words also had a meaning directed at him.

"Is it that he senses I don't have such a strong hatred for demons...?"

"The nose that can sense people's hearts is really a bit..."

Akito was suspicious that Sakonoji Urokodaki knew that Tanjiro was hesitating to kill the demon because of the crow's observations.

It was still early in the day, and it was precisely noon.

"Master Sakonoji, I'm ready to set off!"

Akito said.

"Mm..."

"Then I'm leaving. I'll be back soon..."

Akito picked up the Nichirin blade and the fox mask and turned to set off towards the legendary Fujisakane Mountain.

Sakonoji Urokodaki stared intently at Akito's back, as if he saw himself once sending off someone from the past who never returned.

He murmured, "You must come back..."

Tanjiro was also there to see Akito off, and he could sense a sorrowful aura emanating from Sakonoji Urokodaki.

"Mr. Sakonoji, what is Akito going to do..."

"You will know in the future; this is the path to becoming a true demon-slaying swordsman..."

Sakonoji Urokodaki didn't want to say much more and turned to walk into the wooden house.

The little white dog on the mountain let out a reluctant sound.

Sabito and Makomo's figures appeared.

"He has left; he is going to face that monster... Can he kill that demon..."

...

"Don't worry, I will fulfill your wishes for you..."

Akito felt the wishes behind him and quickened his pace.

"The mountains are filled with wisteria flowers, blooming all year round, from the foot of the mountain to the halfway point, forming a circle that traps the demon inside. This is truly impressive, and the scenery is nice too. If it were in my past life, this place would probably become a popular spot."

Akito marveled at the wisteria flowers on Fujisakane Mountain, seeing others like himself participating in the final trial along the way.

But there were no familiar figures from his past life.

"Probably just extras..."

Akito thought.

After a while, the entire square gathered many participants for the trial.

"Everyone, thank you for coming to participate in the Demon Slayer Corps' final trial. This Fujisakane Mountain is home to demons captured by the demon slayer swordsmen. The demons cannot leave here because the wisteria flowers that demons hate bloom from the foot of the mountain to the halfway point, but from there upwards, they do not. Your task is to survive for seven days, so I wish you all good luck."

The siblings, Kanata and Kiriya, spoke.

This also meant the beginning of the final trial.

Everyone began to ascend the mountain one after another, and Akito followed closely behind.