Building Trust

The main goal of this demon slayer examination, as in the anime, was not to reach a specific spot or goal line in the vast forests of these mountains. The primary goal was not to kill a certain number of demons, either.

The only task assigned to all aspirant demon slayers in this trial was to survive for seven nights. This was the only rule.

As a boar, before being blessed with the system and receiving two halos, Inosuke was already an expert at surviving in the wilderness. Now his ability to stay alive and weather storms had been significantly improved on all levels.

Hours had passed since he met Tanjiro, and the two of them had begun to advance together, eastward, in this trial - but Inosuke was still not worn out, which led him to come to an eye-opening realization.

"I think that we covered a good distance towards our goal... It won't be long until we make it. We need to find somewhere to rest. What do you think?" Tanjiro made a suggestion to Inosuke as they slowed their pace before stopping in pursuit of their eastward goal.

The high ground landmark that he considered safe and close enough to the sunrise was no longer that far away; his tired breath and sweat indicated that he needed to rest before the morning, when he could finally let his guard down against demons and fall asleep.

In addition to fending off demons, they had run all the way to here, and the physical strain was beginning to show. 

The majority of the demons were dealt with by Inosuke, but Tanjiro had also killed some, particularly those who focused on leaving scar marks on Inosuke's unguarded back.

Naturally, Inosuke was quick enough to respond to and shield himself from demon attacks. He left his back open on purpose to level up his halos. Both of his halos had now reached level two, and both his defense and healing speed had skyrocketed. This forest began to look suddenly a lot less dangerous, and Inosuke could choose to devote his spare time to giving birth to his Beast-Breathing.

"Take a good rest, I will keep an eye on you to protect you. I don't need to sleep." Inosuke agreed to Tanjiro's offer and made his own.

As he spoke, he was covered in blood and the stench of it – both his own and the blood of demons he had slain. 

Right now, all he wanted to do was wash his body and clothes, but there was no source of water nearby.

"You don't need to sleep?" Tanjiro's eyes bulged a few inches as he asked.

Doubts had vanished, leaving the place filled with pure, countless shocks.

Inosuke had given him a lot of surprises today, and this was another one that would take some time to adjust to.

"Yes. My body doesn't need food, either." Inosuke continued, becoming increasingly aware of his newfound abnormality. All of his halos had no negative side effects, so his Halo, the Blood of Kibutsuji, was free of them, such as fear of the sun. There was no need to eat human flesh, and therefore no need to eat at all, because demons only ate humans. 

In many ways, Inosuke was more unusual than Nezuko. She needed plenty of sleep to compensate for not eating people.

Eating was no longer a necessity for the magnificent Inosuke-Sama; it was something he would do for pleasure. Inosuke's body was now producing nutrients and eliminating waste. Snacking on junk had nothing to do with his health or how skipping meals could lead to a worsening skin condition.

He was free of the fears that poor creatures with unsightly pigmentation may have.

"..."

Tanjiro's expression suddenly didn't look too right, he looked kind of a bit envious.

"Don't even think about eating demons." Inosuke said, "I won't share my secret technique."

Even if he had such a bogus secret technique to share, Tanjiro is the one person Inosuke would never give it to.

He was the main character who was endowed with the hidden cheat to defeat the last boss, so he couldn't do things as dangerous and life-threatening as feeding on demons.

The risk was not worth it in the event of a major failure and problem.

"I wasn't asking." Tanjiro snorted cutely and sat with a pout, his back supported by a tree. He had gently placed the box that had been on his back next to him.

His arm was tenderly and delicately resting on it when he asked Inosuke, "Can I really trust you to watch over me while I sleep?"

"Of course. If I wanted to cause trouble for you, I wouldn't have to go to such lengths, don't you think?" Inosuke replied.

He didn't need to use all of these deceitful techniques to bring down Tanjiro.

"According to what I've seen on the way, this seems to be the case..." Tanjiro nodded.

His vigilance was not down still, and he was not completely relaxed against Inosuke, whom he had just met today. He'd learned a lot along about Inosuke the way. Despite having roughly equal strength, right now, a fight with Inosuke would be his quick loss.

Inosuke's fighting style was frightening, and he recovered from injuries quickly. There probably was no beating him right now. Not before some more training…

Tanjiro didn't feel confident about this fight, even with Nezuko's help. In fact, he did not want his sister to go up against Inosuke because the guy used blades that killed demons.

She was his dearest and his last family member. There was no way to bring her back if she died.

Inosuke had no idea what Tanjiro was thinking and preferred not to find out. The guy appeared to ease up, but he did not close his eyes. This went on for a while, but when Inosuke fully started training, the boy fell asleep after a long period.

Inosuke couldn't help but smirk as he pumped misty air into his lungs while keeping an eye on the kid and his box. By the time Tanjiro awoke, they would have become true friends, able to rely on and trust one another.