11: Third form: Earthquake Tremor

Jonghyuk sat upright at the table, like an immovable tower.

Opposite him, the swordsmith, Moritaka Kenma, wearing a comical mask, sat very nervously. Unlike the original story's swordsmith, who was wild and unruly, Moritaka seemed excessively cautious in Jonghyuk's eyes.

"So, is there something wrong with my sword?"

Jonghyuk noticed that the swordsmith kept sneaking glances at him but would quickly look away whenever Jonghyuk met his gaze, as if feeling guilty. So Jonghyuk decided to ask directly.

Moritaka Kenma, flustered by the giant swordsman's question, hurriedly waved his hands and said nervously, "No, no, your sword... is very good."

Jonghyuk, seeing Moritaka's guilty behavior, started to feel uncertain. For this special Nichirin sword, he had even taken out the alloy that protected his chest, hoping to enhance the sword's hardness as much as possible. Could there really be an issue?

Noticing that Jonghyuk seemed about to get upset, the anxious Moritaka quickly dragged a large wooden box from behind him.

Frowning, Jonghyuk opened the box. Inside, a Nichirin sword with a blade reaching two meters in length lay quietly within the finely crafted box. The scabbard was entirely black, adorned with dark red patterns, and the cross-shaped guard was cast from alloy to add weight. The blade itself was long and narrow, less than three fingers wide.

Jonghyuk slowly drew his Nichirin sword, feeling that its weight was significantly greater than the one given to him by the Stone Hashra. However, it seemed more suitable for him.

Clang!

Woo!

As the Nichirin sword was unsheathed, Jonghyuk casually swung it, and the long, narrow blade instantly sliced through the air, emitting a sharp, brief whistling sound.

"You've forged this sword very well, so why do you look so…"

Moritaka Kenma, being a reserved and honest person, nervously held a half piece of silver-white alloy in his hands and placed it on the table. He earnestly explained, "I AM SORRY JONGHYUK-SAN! Because I've never seen metal with such hardness, I was tempted to secretly keep the remaining material…"

Under his mask, Moritaka's face turned bright red, seemingly ashamed of his greedy thoughts.

Jonghyuk was momentarily stunned, then laughed it off without care.

"Moritaka-san, it's normal for there to be some loss of material during the forging process. I didn't intend to take back those leftover materials…"

"Oh! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"

Before Jonghyuk could finish his sentence, Moritaka Kenma quickly gathered up the half piece of alloy and the small chunk of crimson iron ore. With a speed that was hard for the average person to follow, he swiftly packed his belongings and dashed out of the door.

"What the…"

At that moment, Sanemi Shinazugawa, with his white hair, quickly approached and asked, "Your swordsmith is Moritaka Kenma?"

"Don't let him swindle you out of your materials."

Jonghyuk, holding his newly forged sword, stiffly looked at Sanemi Shinazugawa. It seemed that the people of the swordsmith village all had their own peculiarities to some extent.

"Caw, caw, mission, there's a mission!"

Sanemi Shinazugawa was about to mock him when the strange voice of a Kasugai crow rang out. He looked up and indeed saw Jonghyuk's large, black Kasugai crow flying over and landing on the window.

"There's a demon devouring people in the northern town, Jonghyuk, set out immediately!"

Dressed in the black uniform of a Demon Slayer, Jonghyuk thought to himself that it was finally time. He quickly strapped on his sword and stood up.

Sanemi, recalling his conversation with Gyomei, hesitated for a moment before saying, "You're not the only one who wants to kill Muzan and the Twelve Kizuki, kid. Don't throw your life away recklessly!"

Jonghyuk hadn't expected Sanemi Shinazugawa to give him such a reminder and replied with a smile, "Don't worry, I haven't even figured out Heaven's Breathing yet~"

"Heaven's Breathing..?"

"That's what I was gonna create after learning the Wind Breathing, remember? I'm off then!"

"This fucker is still in the mood to joke, huh?" He realized that Jonghyuk wasn't nervous. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and left.

...

Following the Kasugai crow all the way, Jonghyuk arrived at this nameless town by the evening of the third day. Along the way, Jonghyuk had tried to see if he could find the demons that Tanjiro encountered in the original story, hoping to gain extra world progression points, but aside from Mount Natagumo, which was a definite location, most other places had no specific names.

This left Jonghyuk somewhat at a loss on where to start.

As for Mount Natagumo, in the original story, the death of Lower Moon Five, Rui, directly led to Muzan killing off the remaining Lower Moons, accelerating the plot's progression.

Jonghyuk wasn't sure what consequences would follow if he killed Rui at this point, when Tanjiro had not yet grown strong, so he hadn't considered it.

Lost in thought, the tall Jonghyuk entered an izakaya carrying a finely crafted wooden box on his back.

As evening fell, there were surprisingly few customers in the izakaya.

Jonghyuk took out some money, which he had exchanged from gold bricks, and asked the owner for a simple meal. He then inquired, "Owner, I see that at this hour, there are still only a few customers in your place. Is business not doing well?"

The izakaya owner, with a worried expression, brought over the food while complaining, "Haah.. It's all because of those gossipy women in the village, spreading rumors about there being a demon in town. They've scared the locals so much that no one dares to come out at night..."

Jonghyuk gently stirred the meat on his plate with his chopsticks, making sure everything was fine before continuing, "So, is there really a demon in this town?"

The owner's expression turned a bit unnatural as he mumbled, "There's a dried-up well in our town, which has been dry for a long time. But recently, some reckless young people have been wandering over there late at night and then never coming back. Everyone says it's a demon, but I think it could be something else..."

Hearing this, Jonghyuk had a rough idea of what was going on and didn't say anything more. He slowly started eating.

As the moon rose, Jonghyuk pushed aside the stack of empty plates in front of him.

The owner, who had been watching him, had a wide smile on his face. He thought to himself that this one customer alone had brought in more business than he usually got in several days.

Perhaps it was because of the generous payment, but as Jonghyuk was leaving, the owner quietly said, "Sir, even though I don't believe in demons, it's probably best not to go to the west side of town tonight..."

"Of course."

Jonghyuk smiled and nodded, then headed straight for the west side of town.

As expected, under the moonlight, this area was completely silent, as if everyone had already moved away.

Jonghyuk took down the Nichirin Blade he had named "Masamune" from his back, thinking to himself that without Tanjiro's special sense of smell, it was indeed dangerous for ordinary Demon Slayers to hunt man-eating demons in the dark.

With a slight sound, the long and narrow Nichirin Blade gently pierced the ground as Jonghyuk slowly closed his eyes.

'Breath of the Earth, Third Form: Earthquake Tremor'

With a deep, prolonged breath, it seemed as if the entire world had fallen silent. Jonghyuk could sense every subtle vibration within the ground, even faintly outlining the shape of the target.

The scurrying of mice, the cries of young beasts—all these sounds and movements were vividly mapped in Jonghyuk's mind.

Slowly, he moved forward, dragging the Nichirin Blade lightly across the ground, leaving a clear trail.

"Hmm?" Finally, he felt an unusually strong vibration coming from one direction. Jonghyuk followed it and eventually arrived at an old, dried-up well.

The stone well had a wooden cover made by the townspeople, but it was now cracked open. As if sensing Jonghyuk's approach, a seductive female voice echoed from within the well.

"Ahh~ Come here~"

"Hngh~ Come down here~, yes~ uhm~ come down and find me..."

Jonghyuk gripped the long blade "Masamune" in one hand, tightening his hold. The blade turned a pitch-black color, appearing especially eerie under the silver-white moonlight.

"Heh, I'm coming."

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