18. Meeting Again

"That should do it."

Sheathing his sword Leo stood before a demon he just finished off. He held his palms together and prayed one last time for it's lost spirit.

A year had passed since he met Tanjuro, he went to many places, killed so many demons that he lost count. Along the way he grew as a person, the kind of spirits he met during his journey showed him a different side of the world.

Demons, an existence he vowed to wipe out wasn't always evil, atleast not when they were still human. He already had an understanding of this when he took the part in the Final Selection.

Although most of them were cruel and evil, at their core some rare ones were different, some still had a shred of humanity left in them.

For those demons who still torment humans despite knowing pain and sorrow themselves Leo would show no mercy, he would kill them without hesitation. All he could do as compensation for such lost spirits was a final prayer.

"Report! Report! Report! Demon sighting due north! Demon sighting due north!"

Just as he finished praying a crow madly flapped it's wings and shouted loudly. Leo looked at the sky, the sun was about to rise. He didn't rest last night since he had to track down a demon.

'I will sleep for a while and leave. Constant fighting will do more harm than good, anyway I can reach my next destination in half a day, there is plenty of time.'

Leo found a hut nearby for passengers to stop by and laid down. The sun slowly peeked out of the high mountains to the east, Leo was fast asleep when the sun rose up. His breathing was calm, steady and powerful.

After more than six hours Leo woke up and stretched his body. Eating some dried fruits and nuts he resumed his journey under the guidance of the crow.

"I wonder how Tanjiro is doing, it's been nearly two months since I last visited."

Leo kept true to his word and often visited Tanjuro and his family, with time they got even closer. To any outsider Leo would look no different than family to the Kamados.

Like he suggested before Tanjuro started to train Tanjiro, he slowly helped him get familiar with the Fire God Dance. For a growing boy the benefits a Breathing Technique could bring was enormous.

Unlike Tanjiro, Nezuko wasn't talented in that aspect, her progress was slow but no one pressured her. In the first place this training was nothing more than a precaution, so it mattered not whether she mastered it or not.

By the time Leo reached his destination the sun was already starting to set. Buying some food from the stalls Leo wandered around to gather information. He was surprised and confused when no one mentioned a demon.

Something's wrong.

Leo's spirit couldn't lock onto what it was but he could sense something was different. He cleared his mind and focused, like flames blazing amidst a dark night spirits lit up inside his perception.

Each spirit was different, he focused even more and found what he was looking for. Among the myriad of spirits a couple of them were different, their spirit's had colour!

Usually a spirit would be a clump of white mass with different hues of colour surrounding it, representing various emotions.

Unless one practiced Breathing Techniques their spirits would never be colored, however demons were an exception, their spirits were tainted and every single negative emotion would have a deep colour to it, making it vile and repulsive.

The spirits he saw just now had colour to it, though it was slight it was still there. Leo stealthily followed one of them, it was a woman about thirty or so. She walked through the streets and down a narrow pathway, reaching a relatively big house.

Leo sensed the other people he saw before as well. All of them walked through the doors and disappeared into the darkness. Closing his eyes he spread out his senses trying to find how many humans were inside.

Just as he was doing so his eyes flew open, his sword was unsheathed, turning his body in an unbelievable angle he cut the dark space behind him. Just as he was about to cut what was in the shadows he forcefully stopped his movements.

"What is wrong with you!? My god! I just saw paradise!!"

A muffled roar came out from the shadows. Leo's sneered and sheathed his sword and shrugged.

"Who told you to sneak upon me."

"Like hell I could sneak upon you, you clearly sensed it was me! Didn't you!?"

Silence ensued for few seconds before Leo smiled widely.

"It's been a while Sabito."

A young man wearing a checkered kimono over black pants and shirt came out from the shadows. He had a scar starting from the right corner of his mouth to the root of his ear.

"Leo, you have gotten even stronger! Just how do you train to get so strong?"

Leo shrugged. It wasn't that he was unbelievably gifted when it comes to Breathing Techniques, it's just that any Technique would require time to master.

And mastering a Breathing Technique means one would have complete control of their body, to adjust every minute muscle, blood vessel to optimum level for perfect operation. And control of body lies in our brain.

However Leo's case was slightly special, Not only is Dragon - Tiger Breathing far superior to other Techniques, it's also slowly changing Leo's body.

After so many years Leo found two benefits in training Dragon - Tiger Breathing, an accelerated healing and a sturdy body.

He had a faint feeling that something incredible will happen if he continues to train in it, all he needed was time.

Since he knew every aspect of Dragon - Tiger Breathing his brain would automatically adjust his body according to it thus skipping over the mastering part.

The hardest part of mastering a technique was non-existent to Leo. He is simply reaping the benefits brought by fully mastering his Breathing Technique.