First Encounter with Demon!

--- Chapter 3 ---

Five years later.

Kawami Village.

A white-haired child helped his mother in the rice field.

"Kaa-chan, working in the field is not good for your health. You still have a fever, so just let me do it."

The mother in question only smiled. "Ma-kun is a good child. But Kaa-chan is still able to move."

"I can't let my only boy work in this scorching noon."

"You should play with neighbor kids."

The child pouted because he didn't want to play with brats. It's not like they could help him get stronger.

Yes, the child is none other than Otsutsuki Tenma. In this lifetime, he goes by Nakiri Tenma after this kind, motherly woman saves him from the river and adopts him.

Her name is Nakiri Tamako. She's a widow whose husband died in battle against demons. To make it worse, she was pregnant at the time and lost her child in labor.

Miraculously, she adopted Tenma two months later. To her, Tenma is her last lifeline.

Tamako is 26 this year. She has wheat-colored skin, brown eyes, and long black hair. She wore patched old clothes and a straw hat to hide from the glaring sun.

"Hmm, I don't want to play with them. They make fun of my hair." Tenma makes an excuse out of thin air. Not entirely, though.

Many villagers found Tenma's white hair off. Although they didn't outright say it, they talked a lot behind Tenma and Tamako's back.

Tamako was 'deeply' saddened by Tenma's words. She wanted nothing more but to see her adopted son live a happy life.

However, she was just a farmer. Their family is poor. This ricefield they used to plant rice and breed eels is 'literally' rented from a merchant in the village.

The small amount of money Tamako made is only enough to feed her and her son.

Tamako even had to salvage old clothes to make new clothes for growing Tenma.

Tenma sighed inwardly and stubbornly said, "Kaa-chan, just let me help you."

"Okay..." Tamako couldn't do anything about it. She could only work in the field with her son, sometimes watching him catch frogs and small fish in the mud.

Of course, it's not so simple.

Tenma is training.

'Tia, open my status.'

[Right way, Tenma!]

[...]

[Name: Nakiri (Otsutsuki) Tenma]

[Race: Human/Celestial Being(Unawakened)]

[Age: 5 years old]

[Talent: Broken Blade (S), Karmic Exchange (EX)]

[Bloodline Ability: Kama (Sealed), Sharingan - One Tomoe (Locked)]

[Ability: God's Tongue, Sharp Nose, Eagle Eyes]

[Skill: Cooking, Arato Family's Medicinal Cooking, Polearm Mastery, Spear Mastery]

[Equipment: Maguro Kiri, Pebbles, Sharp Bamboo Sticks]

[Cultivation Technique: Star Force Manual (1st stage)]

[Martial Technique: Embryo Breathing Technique, Gentle Fist, Strong Fist, Body Flicker, Earthen Spear Art]

[Description: Once the most feared Wild Horse is a child who is more powerful than a 'normal' adult. Aih, what an embarrassing fate~!]

"..." Tenma's mouth twitched upon seeing Hestia's honest description.

After five years, Tenma has gone from a crying baby to a strong child who can fold adults like clothes.

He has cultivated the Star Force Manual to the first stage and cleansed his energy pathways thoroughly, giving him more stamina and energy to train.

He also tried to create his breathing technique by mimicking the force of nature and the beings within it.

Unfortunately, Tenma can't move out and find Dragon Veins yet. His Kama and One Tomoe Sharingan are 'naturally' unusable until he meets the physical requirement.

Above all this, Tenma also has a problem with his talents.

Karmic Exchange is an overpowered talent. Using this talent, Tenma can exchange a certain amount of karma (good or bad) into an object, power, or even summon a living being.

The problem is Tenma can't access his past life's Karmic Values. It forced him to do the deeds in this new life.

[Karmic Values: 1,250 (Good Karma), 369 (Bad Karma)]

Tenma glanced at his miserable amount of Good Karma and heaved a sad sigh. With over a thousand Good Karma, he hardly can exchange for good things.

As for Bad Karma, Tenma doesn't even look at it. He killed many animals in the forest to eat, but he did them for his and his mother's survival.

And there is Broken Blade (S).

[Name: Broken Blade (S)]

[Introduction: You're worthless in the Path of Swordsman. Any blade you touch will crack or shatter into pieces depending on their grades]

Having this skill is like a nightmare for Tenma. He couldn't even hold a knife, or it would shatter into iron clips.

However, Tenma has found a loophole in this talent. As long as the blade wasn't full tang and had a long handle like a polearm, Tenma could wield a weapon.

Simply put, Tenma can wield a short spear or spear.

Hours later, the sun started falling, illuminating the rice field with orange light.

"Ma-kun, let's check our trap." Tamako rubbed her son's head with her clean hand.

"Kay, Ka-chan!"

Tamako and Tenma returned to their home.

On the edge of Kawami Village, a wooden house with a straw and stick-covered roof stands firmly. Gravel pathways lead to their home, making a serene scenery.

It looked unremarkable but warmed Tenma's heart for some reason.

The wooden house is nothing compared to the Otsutsuki Clan's houses, but it failed with a warmth that the latter didn't have.

"Wait, I will grab my bamboo spear!" Tenma ran to the backyard.

Tamako shook her head helplessly. Her child is a Martial Art enthusiast.

Since she didn't have money to hire Ronin or Samurai to teach Tenma, the boy could only learn everything himself.

Tamako didn't know her son's talent and only thought it was a kid playing with himself. Sometimes, Tenma also forced her to exercise, which he said would promote better health for her.

Tenma didn't come to the backyard just for the bamboo spear. He picked some pouches from his inventory and hung them on his waist.

He filled these pouches with dried medicinal powders from poison to detoxification remedies.

Tenma nodded and returned with a brown bamboo spear in his hand. It's no longer than 80 centimeters and around two centimeters wide, making it a glorified knife with a long handle.

"Let's go!" He excitedly waved his spear.

"Mhm." Tamako also brought a bamboo basket with her.

As the mother-son walked into the mountain, a pair of devilish yellow eyes locked on them.

Heavy breathing appeared from the overgrown bushes as saliva dripped to the ground.

"Human, hungry..."

...

...

"Kaa-chan, look! Matsutake!" Tenma showed Tamako a mushroom he picked near the root of Japanese Red Pines.

"Good job, Ma-kun!" Tamako was happy to see Tenma's smile. She looked at the bamboo basket in her hand and noticed it was 'literally' packed to the brim with mountain vegetables and mushrooms.

They are lucky.

Truthfully, Tenma's Medicinal Cooking from the Food Wars allowed him to discern these edible ingredients at first glance. Some are poisonous, but he could extract the toxins easily and turn them into medicinal remedies.

They walked deeper into the mountain and finally arrived at the animal trap they set yesterday. It was near a pond and under a massive Japanese Red Pine.

Tamako was ready to see the trap when viscous red liquid drips onto the ground before her.

She stopped stiffly and lifted her eyes.

Her brown eyes widened in fear.

What she saw was an abomination.

"Human..." A yellow-eyed monkey glared at Tamako. It has bloodied brown fur and long limbs, looking like a wicked creature.

"Hungry..."

"Human, foods..."

Tamako held her breath, 'D-Demon!'

"HUMAN!" The demon monkey jumped Tamako.

"Kaa-chan, dodge!" Tenma cursed this damn creature. Why did you appear out of nowhere?

He rushed toward Tamako and pushed her away, making the monkey lose its target.

Thud!

Tamako crashed to the ground and turned around in panic. "No, Ma-kun!"

The demon monkey and Tenma faced off with a one-meter gap between them.

Tenma kicked the ground and swung his bamboo spear, creating a whistling noise.

"Human, Food, Die!" The demon monkey dodged easily and charged at Tenma like lightning.

Tenma's lips curled into a smile.

'You entered my range!' Tenma let go of his bamboo spear.

[Gentle Fist - Eight Trigrams, Sixteen Palms!]

Tenma struck the demon monkey's chest with his fist, connecting two more hits to the solar plexus before adding the rest to the liver, stomach, and neck.

Bang!

Kieek!

A shriek escaped the demon monkey's mouth as extreme pain hit its body.

It also couldn't move its body as Tenma had suppressed its pressured pain.

Although it was less effective without Chakra and other energy, Tenma didn't complain.

Before the demon monkey could move, Tenma grabbed his bamboo spear again and made his killing move.

[Earthen Spear Art - 1st move: Thrust]

Tenma twisted his hip and thrust his spear as if he were throwing a straight punch, stabbing the demon monkey's left eye.

Kieeeek!

Not far away, a black-clothed young lady with white-greenish pink Haori halted her steps.

"This sound... A demon is screaming?" She looked up to the mountain before her. "I must hurry up."

After adjusting her breath, the young lady burst with extra speed and passed many trees.

Yet the young lady couldn't prepare for the shock of her life.

Upon her arrival, she saw a white-haired boy fighting a demon monkey with a brown bamboo spear. The boy is fearless, fending the demon from his supposed-to-be mother.

"This is..." The young lady's mouth opened in awe. She gripped her katana's handle tight.

"A boy with a bamboo spear fighting a low-level demon?"

Meanwhile, Tenma felt his blood pumping rapidly.

He laughed a little in his heart, 'This is it!'

'This is what I've been waiting for! A life-and-death battle!'

'Come, monkey! Show me everything you got!'

'MORE, MORE, MORE!'

The demon monkey swiped its long arms, scratching Tenma's cheek, and left three red lines on his left cheek.

Tenma grinned and shot his spear with explosive power, "Yari no Kokyu - Ichi no Kata..."

"Musou Ichiretsu!"

Swoosh!

Crack!

A bone-snapping noise echoed in the forest as the bamboo spear left Tenma's hand and stabbed the demon monkey's chest. The explosive force didn't stop and pinned the demon onto the Red Pine behind it.

BANG!

Huff! Huff!

The boy breathed heavily and stared at his handiwork proudly.

"Kaa-chan... Must protect." Then, he fell to the ground.

"Tenma!" Tamako's voice entered Tenma's ears, but he fainted already.

The black-clothed young lady landed near the monkey demon and swung her katana at its neck, finishing Tenma's job.

The bamboo spear only immobilized the demon monkey and didn't kill it.

One needs a 'special' weapon to kill a demon.

The young lady gradually turned around and stared at the fainted white-haired boy, "But still, how can this boy be so powerful?"

She didn't know today was her destined meeting with Tenma, who would change this world and her life forever.