6. Mission Completion

The blade began to glow a magnificent red when Shiro activated the Breath of the Undying Flame; First Form.

Ignoring his injuries and pain, the boy clenched his teeth and charged forward dealing several lethal slashes to the demon. Shiro spun in the air and sliced off all the tentacles that came shooting toward him and landed on the ground.

From there, he glared angrily at the demon.

"Third Form; Scorching Hell!!"

"HAAAA!!!"

One after another, the slashes and thrusts reigned down on the demon who began unable to keep up with the speed.

"KKAAAAAAKKK!!" the demon yelled. It looked up in the air where Shiro had jumped and instantly knew he was a goner.

"No--"

*PLOP*

The demon's head fell to the ground. From there, its body began breaking down into dust and it slowly evaporated into the air.

The flame on Shiro's blade died down and he collapsed to the ground in pants.

Minamoto was immediately by his side and helped him up. With a grin, the older man congratulated him.

"Well done kid. You've killed your first demon."

'Shitty old man. You could've stepped in earlier...' thought Shiro. He didn't dare say it out loud in fear of getting a beating.

Suddenly, Shiro was assaulted with pain in his head. When this happened, he heard numerous system notification alerts.

[Ding! You have killed your first demon!]

[Ding! You have unlocked a Hidden Mission: Kill 50 Demons (1/50)]

[Ding! You have leveled up! All Stats increase by 1]

[Ding! You have completed Side-Mission: Training to become an official Demon Slayer]

[Ding! You have received a Special skill; Tracker]

[Tracker skill (Active Skill): Ability to detect hostile presences within a mile]

"...iro? Oi, Shiro!"

Shiro was so busy staring at the notifications by the system that he forgot someone was next to him. He blinked and turned to look at his master who was wearing an expression of worry.

"Master?"

"Jeez, kid. I thought something happened to you. You got trauma or something..."

Shiro shook his head, "No master. Haha, I was just happy because I managed to kill a demon..."

Minamoto snorted, "The was a low-level demon. Don't be so happy, you will face stronger ones than that once you become an official demon slayer."

"..."

Shiro shook his head and sighed before wincing in pain. His wounds were painful and now that the adrenaline had worn off, it was more prominent.

"Let's get you patched up now. After this, you are to stay in bed for a week at least if you want a full recovery. Don't argue with me on this," Minamoto emphasized in a stern voice.

Shiro had no choice but to comply.

- - - -

The day finally arrived for Shiro to take the exam to become an official demon slayer.

The Final Selection.

Truth be told, he was growing quite anxious because he didn't have much time left to complete his missions. He was going to have to pass the Final Selection and hunt as many demons as he could regardless of what he was instructed.

He planned to hunt a lot of demons in order to increase his stats before he took on any of the moons. His final battle would be with Muzan.

There was also another thing that was weighing on his mind.

It's actually been on his mind for a very long time.

"Where exactly am I in the timeline?"

He'd been here for a while now and yet, Shiro had yet to meet any of the characters in the show. So he had no idea which point in time he was at.

Once he got accepted into the Demon Slayer Corps, then he'd be able to find out.

To him, it didn't really matter too much but it would be beneficial for him to know in order to think of his next step. Nezuko was the leading factor that drew Muzan out. After it was discovered that her body, despite being a demon, could withstand sunlight, he targeted her and declared war on the Demon Slayer Corps.

"I feel like I could use that to my advantage..." muttered Shiro. "But then again, I'm sure he'd eventually come out if I manage to kill two of his Upper-Moon servants."

'And the way to draw out the Upper-moons is to kill a lot of demons...'

"What nonsense are you thinking about?"

Shiro had already sensed Minamoto's presence so he wasn't surprised that the man suddenly appeared behind him. The two were walking toward the place where the Final Selection would be held.

"Nothing at all. Why do you assume the worst of me master?" Shiro joked.

"Because I know that look on your face. A look that says you are planning to do something impossible," Minamoto said. Glaring at his student, the man continued, "Whatever it is you're planning on doing, don't."

Shiro gave a sheepish grin, "Haha, of course."

"Hmm..."

- - - -

Shiro stared up at the mountain in wonder.

For a deathly exam venue, it was pretty beautiful.

Vast landscape with a multitude of trees. It had an abundance of plants and trees with thick branches and tons of leaves that sheltered the grounds.

However, once night fell, this beautiful landscape would turn into a nightmare with the demons that ran rampant in it.

"This is where I leave you, kid. Don't screw up," Minamoto said with a small smirk.

The older man then turned and left leaving Shiro standing there alone.

Shiro waved slightly at his master's back before walking forward to join the other participants.

Once he arrived, he immediately scanned his eyes over the crowd to see if there was anyone he could recognize.

That's when his eyes landed on a very familiar face with a scar.

"Kamado Tanjiro..." Shiro muttered.

The protagonist of the story and probably the kindest soul to walk the earth.

He was wearing a blue haori with a fox mask strapped on the side of his head. His expression seemed determined but with a hint of nervousness.

Understandable.

Anyone would be nervous about taking part in this exam.

Shiro looked away and spotted other characters from the show. The butterfly girl, Zenitsu, scarface. Aside from Zenitsu, the other two were completely calm with not a hint of nervousness on their features.

He didn't stare at them for too long and instead turned his attention to the two girls standing in front of the participants. The daughters of the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps; Kagaya Ubuyashiki.

"In order to pass the Final Selection, you must survive seven days on this mountain," one of them said.

Shiro looked at the horizon with a sigh.

Welp here goes nothing.