Demon Slayer: I Level Up Alone

Chapter 8

After passing the assessment, Akito was lifted onto the bed in the wooden house by Sakonoji Urokodaki, who carefully cleaned his wounds with medicine.

Ritoruho, seeing Akito covered in injuries, was anxious, hopping around and constantly calling in Akito's ear, occasionally licking the palm of his hand.

"Ritoruho, don't worry, he's just too tired."

Sakonoji Urokodaki patted Ritoruho's fur and then removed Akito's clothes.

Sakonoji Urokodaki noticed that Akito's self-healing ability was incredibly strong.

Those wounds had already started to scab over.

This made Sakonoji Urokodaki recall what Tomioka Giyu had said about Akito's special physique.

Sakonoji Urokodaki had previously encountered people with special physiques, commonly referred to as "rare blood."

Rare blood is like a tonic for demons; consuming a person with rare blood can be equivalent to dozens of ordinary people.

Of course, those with rare blood have a stronger physique, more vigorous energy and blood, and while some also have strong self-healing abilities, none are as terrifying as Akito's.

"This is a genius, who has coincidentally mastered Total Concentration Breathing on his own... but he's not proficient... It seems the training content for him needs to change..."

Sakonoji Urokodaki stared at Akito, lost in thought.

After a while,

Akito slowly opened his eyes.

The fatigue had disappeared, and instead, he felt his strength had grown a bit stronger.

"I should have passed the assessment, right..."

Akito slowly sat up.

Seeing Akito awake, Ritoruho quickly ran into Akito's arms and rolled around.

"Awake? Come eat something."

Sakonoji Urokodaki, seeing that Akito could get up and move, was astonished, though his Tengu mask prevented Akito from seeing his expression.

"Mr. Sakonoji!"

"You've passed the assessment; it's time to change how you address me..."

"Yes, Mr. Sakonoji!"

...

That day, Sakonoji Urokodaki did not arrange for Akito to train, as he had just passed the assessment. Even with his strong self-healing ability, he still needed to rest and recover.

Of course, a training plan for Akito had already been thought out.

With nothing to do, Akito began practicing his swordplay on his own.

Sakonoji Urokodaki watched from the side, occasionally pointing out Akito's sword movements and stance.

"The grip is wrong, the elbow pressure is wrong, your stance is wrong, and your breathing is chaotic. You're just swinging the sword randomly."

"Mr. Sakonoji, I... I was just practicing on my own..." Akito hadn't expected he had so many flaws.

"Kid, watch closely."

Sakonoji Urokodaki took the sword from Akito's hand, and in an instant, Akito felt Sakonoji Urokodaki's aura change.

The entire person's presence was overwhelmingly powerful.

"Watch closely, adjust your breathing to circulate throughout your body, even to every cell. This will allow us to break through our limits..."

Akito seemed to see Sakonoji Urokodaki emanating a stream of white energy at that moment.

After that, Sakonoji swung his hand tightly gripping the wooden sword, and a powerful airflow was unleashed, striking a large tree ahead as if it were cutting through bamboo. The tree fell with a loud crash.

The airflow generated by the falling tree brushed against Akito's face, leaving him with his mouth agape, unable to regain his senses for a long time.

"This... this... what incredible power..."

Then, disregarding Akito's astonished gaze, Sakonoji returned the wooden sword to him, instructing him to practice as he had just mentioned.

Akito closed his eyes, recalling Sakonoji's sword-swinging motion, and began to mimic it, adjusting his breathing.

"Ha, hu~"

As he inhaled, Akito felt that powerful sensation from the assessment reemerging.

"Hmm? Has he entered the state so quickly."

Sakonoji observed every move of Akito, nodding slightly upon seeing Akito's breath filling his entire body.

"Ha!"

Akito shouted, swinging the wooden sword with force.

However, the voice of the system in his mind caused him to exclaim.

"Acquired sword swing count +10"

Akito: "!"

"What's going on? Did I just gain 10 sword swing counts directly? Could it be that this state allows for more sword swings…"

"No, I need to try again."

He adjusted his breathing once more, attempting to enter the previous state again, but the excitement in his heart caused him not to gain the 10 sword swing counts this time.

"No, no, the state is wrong, that feeling was off. I need to explore this myself; I must master that state proficiently."

So he closed his eyes again, calming his mind, unable to hear any other sounds from the outside, leaving only his breath and heartbeat.

Akito could feel that he was able to control the energy within his body, but it was still unskilled, and the energy kept dispersing.

Sakonoji was once again shocked at Akito, not expecting this kid to reach this level so quickly.

At this moment, Akito stopped swinging the sword, focusing intently on adjusting his breath and controlling the flow of energy throughout his body.

Time passed little by little, and Akito's breathing became more stable, while his ability to control the energy became more proficient.

"Ha!"

Akito swung his sword with force.

A visible airflow was cleaved out with his swing, hitting a tree, leaving a knife mark on the tree's surface.

"I... I succeeded?"

"However, this power is too weak; it feels like it's not even one percent of Sakonoji-sensei's strength. It seems I still need to practice harder. I will definitely become a powerful swordsman like him, no... I must surpass him..."

Akito looked at the sword mark created by the airflow from his wooden sword and gripped the sword tightly.

...

Days passed by.

The training tasks that Sakonoji arranged for Akito were identical to those arranged for Tanjiro in the anime he had watched in his past life, but the difficulty was doubled.

Several times, even though Akito's mastery of total concentration breathing was becoming more refined, he nearly stumbled.

Moreover, the training content was extremely dangerous, and a moment's carelessness could lead to death!

Yes, that's right, death. Countless hidden weapon traps, and it seemed Sakonoji had also considered the direction and methods of evasion while setting the traps.

Whenever Akito dodged one trap, another would immediately follow.

At the same time, Akito practiced swinging the sword. Although the time spent swinging the sword was not as much as before, the efficiency was high, and each time he could achieve about 10 swings.

Additionally, Akito's physical fitness was constantly strengthening; he could feel himself growing stronger every day.

Until a month later,

The system that Akito had been eagerly anticipating was finally about to activate.