A Meeting And A Mission

The Ancient One had seen many men. She'd seen beings that dwarfed the Earth and even the sun. She'd been alive for so long, calling it a lifetime was inadequate.

But one Yuji Itadori, as he'd introduced him, was definitely a first.

Looking at his appearance it was easy to see he was extraordinary. Light pink hair and yellow eyes, matched with two tiger stripes under each eye - not to mention he immense size and musculature which were beyond intimidating for normal people but also his unusual choice of clothing which seemed vaguely Japanese-esque.

A uniform consisting of a buttoned black shirt with a white framed collar having the kanji for Destroy engraved on the back, a shirt pocket on top of the left breast and white undershirt. It also consists of long, saggy hakama pants strapped by a white buckled belt that had the bottoms tucked in with a kind of Kyahan that extended into tabi socks and flat-bottomed sandals.

But it was none of this that caught the Ancient One's eye. No, it was the utter abundance of life force in the man. While everyone was filled with life force, they were like candle lights in front of this man. He was like a raging sun, filled with energy and life.

And yet she knew he did not draw on any external dimensions for such power. Every bit of energy came from his body and from the powerful cells that lined it.

Currently he sat opposite her, legs crossed and expertly drinking the tea she's given him upon his arrival. His etiquette was impeccable and yet despite looking relaxed in his movements, the Ancient One could see the tension in his limbs, the combat readiness of a warrior who'd seen more than his fair share of fighting and blood.

She'd seen human warriors before, and yet this man trumped them all by leaps and bounds.

And he wants her to teach him? The Ancient One wandered if this was some sort of joke. He was already so strong and yet he wanted more, if it weren't for the emotions she could feel from the man, she would've thought he was being driven by greed. But he wasn't. His drive was pure and from a very humane place - the hope to not let the past repeat itself.

Her only problem was that she could not see his future, nor could she see the future after he appeared in this world. She knew he was not from this Universe. He stuck out like a sore thumb to her senses as he was ever so slightly out of sync with everything else.

It would soon sort itself out but for now, anyone who could see reality for what it is would be able to see how he was from outside this plane of reality.

Like a being of red in a universe of blue. Ever so slightly he was turning purple and from there he would turn blue - the universe seeking to correct such little mishaps like this one. Things coming into this universe from others wasn't all too uncommon from her experience, after all.

"So," he intoned, putting down his cup, "Have you decided on whether or not you'll teach me?" he asked.

"Not quite," she answered, putting her own cup down, "You are an enigma, Mr. Itadori. Not of this universe and so very far from home, yet you adapt so quickly. Not your first time, I assume?" her curiosity got the better of her but she kept a straight face, knowing there was no use crying over spilt milk.

Yuji smiled at her curiosity, still seeing it despite her efforts to hide it, and nodded, "You'd be right in that assumption. Though I feel like this is my last time," he looked down at his body, "I've never came to a world with a fully grown body. Always as a newly born child. Obviously I am no child right now, am I?" he rhetorically asked, his smile becoming more of a mischievous grin, though it disappeared for a more sombre one as he continued, "It means this time if I die, I'll die for good. Hence why I have come here for training."

...An interesting story, one she'd have to ask him about one day. From one death-defying entity to another.

Though it left one glaring hole in his story.

"And how, may I ask, did you know to come here? This is a new world to you, is it not?" she asked and leaned forward ever so slightly to get a better look at his expression and the muscles of his face. Centuries of dealing with people had made her quite good at seeing lies.

"I just know we'll be wonderful friends," Yuji started before shaking his head, "But I cannot tell you how I knew to come here, yet. Let's just say I came here with a packet of information that told me the general layout of this reality. Similar to your ability to see the future," he answered in such a way that it was vague enough that she couldn't tell if he was lying or not.

The Ancient One already had an inkling that he was older than his looks portrayed but now she knew he was much older. A wily old man, no doubt. It made his statement of them being friends stand much more true - she wasn't able to be friends with naive or gullible people. People more her age were much better...though others could say there were no humans her age anymore, she acquiesced.

She nodded and picked up her tea once more, taking a sip to wet her mouth before she answered, "I can accept such an answer, and with it I can tell you that I will teach you. But I will have to ask you to help the Earth if it ever falls under attack. But I'd assume again that you'd do that anyway, wouldn't you?"

He smiled, "See? Great friends," he laughed, "Yes, I'd do it anyway. You teaching me will just let me defend the place better."

"Then it's settled," she nodded and made to stand. Once she had, she looked down at Yuji and continued, "If you'd follow me, I can show you to your room."

With the same smile, he stood and gestured for her to lead the way.

/ / /

POV Change - Yuji Itadori

~ One Month Later ~

Sitting in a classic lotus position, I pulled the thin and cold air around me into my lungs, instilling the maximum amount of it that I could into my lungs. The cold air ironically burnt, the thinness being excellent for my training.

Despite the cold, I was fine. In fact, the snow around me was steaming and melting from the heat produced by my body.

I pulled on a dimension filled with life force, imbuing it into the oxygen-filled blood cells and letting it flow through my body. The last month had been an enlightening one. I'd learnt how to make portals and how to use Eldritch magic, but that wasn't my focus. My focus had been connecting to dimensions that could further my power and give it a magical aspect.

A week into my training* I found a dimension that fit my needs perfectly.

(*A/n - If you think this is quick, it is. But, in the MC's defence, he's naturally very intelligent and after undergoing Spartan Augmentations his intelligence was increased. And with the use of Total Concentration Constant, his brain works even quicker than it already did. The result? Incredibly high comprehension and thought processing speed.)

It was a dimension filled with energy nigh-identical to the energy produced by my breathing style. A dimension of life force and empowering energy. When I spoke to the Ancient One about it, she warned me that this energy was incredibly vicious - which is why she was so utterly shocked when I allowed a flood of said energy into my body to no ill effect. Seems most Sorcerers who use this energy end up crippled in some way.

They should get themselves on that Saitama Workout Routine. Though I understand that not everyone can be built like me either, so it's understandable, I guess.

The energy had a unique effect of strengthening my body even further, instilling it with even more vitality and power. Access to this energy had allowed me to improve my destructive capabilities by quite a lot as well - imbuing this into my attacks when I use my stances does wonders.

Still, for it to work it's magic, I need to keep up my breathing pattern otherwise it lacks direction and intent.

(A/n - Don't worry, this won't turn into cultivation lol.)

The strengthening was only minor but it was still something on top of the strengthening my normal breathing style gave me, so I wasn't gonna complain about it. Besides, it strengthening me wasn't my main goal in imbuing it into my blood - my main goal was gaining a sense for this specific energy by doing this. Not just any energy either but specifically the energy inside my body.

While I could control my physical energy just fine, I'd been told by the Ancient One that I had remarkable potential for the usage of Chi, which is a metaphysical energy. If I could use both these energies in tandem...Well, that's certainly a very destructive attack, let me tell you that.

Anyway, I'd be able to sense Chi, eventually, by using this method that I'd ran by the Ancient One. Once I could sense it of my own accord, she'd help me with everything else but apparently sensing it is different for everyone. Right now, the energy I'm drawing on right now (if you hadn't already guessed) is raw, unfiltered Chi. That's why it's so harsh on people's bodies - the human body is only meant to channel so much Chi and going over that limit can have extremely dire consequences.

Exceptions include those imbued with Chi, like the Iron Fist, and those who have trained their natural amount of Chi into a bigger resource pool and supported it with a strong body and incredible control.

Basically, the Chi I'm drawing on now is raw and unfiltered, like pure acid. The Chi certain Martial Artists use has been diluted and attuned to their body, hence why it doesn't tear them apart but instead strengthens them. I, on the other hand, am an outlier and can withstand this pure, acid-like Chi because of my incredibly well-conditioned and superhuman body.

Then why am I working to sense my own Chi when I have access to an entire dimension of it? Because despite how much it irks me, my superhuman body can only take so much of this raw Chi before even it starts to break down.

While a normal person would instantly be crippled for drawing on the amount of raw Chi that I do, I have about an hour before I start feeling the effects of using the Chi from this specific dimension.

So, while I can use it for momentary attacks and for short instances, being able to mobilise my own Chi would be much better for me in the long run and for fights of attrition. And from what the Ancient One said about my Chi reserves, I have more than enough to put a Dragon to shame. That's coming from a woman who's probably seen and fought Dragons, so I took her word for it.

"Chi is like a mystical spark, going from cell to cell, she said," I hummed in annoyance at my lack of progress, "With your talent, it should only take a few tries, she said," I grit my teeth as I felt the raw Chi flitter from cell to cell but my own Chi was nowhere to be seen nor felt, "Well you know what I say? Bull~shit~" I complained in a singsong voice. You might think this is counter-intuitive - you know, me complaining while training - but you'd be surprised the amount of times I've struggled with something, complained, got frustrated about it and then figured it out.

Trust me, if I complain hard enough, I'll figure it out.

As if to prove my mindless bantering right, I felt an energy similar to my physical energy - let's call that physical energy Hamon - but much more mystical. It wasn't produced by my body but seemed somehow linked to it anyway. Like there was some sort of magical process that a strong body produced some sort of magical energy outside of Hamon which was produced by cells interacting with hyper oxygen-rich blood.

(*A/n - Is that a motherfucking Jojo reference?!)

I caught onto this energy and it was like an explosion went off throughout my body as every fibre of my being began exuding this energy alongside Hamon. The energy flowed through me, right next to my physical energy, and went through my body alongside the raw Chi, passively strengthening and perfecting my body.

Remembering something from my first life, for some reason, I took my Chi and my Hamon and I ramped up it's circulation until an actual physical humming could be heard.

I opened my eyes and I saw that I was covering in a golden energy that flashed black in certain parts - somewhat like tiger stripes, ironically.

Low and behold, complaining cinched it once again. The Dao of Complaining has advanced once more. Either way I stopped drawing on the raw Chi and instead focused on the natural Chi my body produced.

It was incredible. Oddly enough, my Hamon and Chi were in perfectly identical amounts. Maybe I could merge them somehow? The physical and the metaphysical, merged together, should produce something even stronger, right? Food for thought, I guess. Always something I need to think more on later when I'm not on top of a mountain. Mount Everest, to be exact.

Standing, I brushed off my uniform and smelled something utterly horrid.

Ah, that's what I remembered, isn't it? Impurity cleansing. God-fucking-dammit.

(A/n - ...Seriously, I promise this won't turn into a cultivation novel. Totally won't.)

Stripping myself of my Demon Slayer Corps uniform, I began picking up the snow around me and rubbing myself clean. There wasn't much of the black sludge coming out of my body but it was enough that it was really beginning to stink and get on my nerves.

/ / /

POV Change - Random Hiker

Seven years. That's how long I'd been training. Seven long, gruelling and intense years.

I'd climbed all sorts of mountains, getting myself used to the cold and the thin air, all so I could make the climb to the peak of Mt. Everest.

Even after all that training, I was still under-prepared. The cold was bitter and the air was so thin I'd had to pull on my oxygen supply despite not wanting to use any external aids to reach the top - but my pride didn't mean diddly squat when my vision began to go blurry because of the lack of any real oxygen up here.

Yet it wasn't all for naught. I was nearly there. At the top.

The snow had started picking up and the group I'd come with had pulled back but I wouldn't let that stop me from reaching my dream.

But then I was face to face with...it. Tall and broad, seemingly impossibly so for a human. I'd heard the tales, the myths and the stories and I'd always laughed them off as nothing but superstitious nonsense.

Not now, however. I couldn't find it in me to laugh nor move as those yellow eyes pierced through the snow storm around us.

It had no clothes, so I knew it wasn't a human. No human could survive on top of this mountain without all sorts of protective gear for the cold. No oxygen mask either, and I knew first hand how harsh it was up here without one of those.

This was a Yeti. Tall, broad, muscular and those bestial eyes.

I tried to move and yet I couldn't. It could see me and it moved toward me...and I passed out, meters away from fulfilling my dream.

All...all because of that dastardly Yeti!

/ / /

POV Change - Yuji Itadori

...Huh, he fainted.

Still with my sling ring on, I conjured a portal and flung it at the man to deposit him somewhere near base camp for the mountain.

I wonder why he fainted? Did he see a monster or something?

Looking behind myself, I didn't see anything so I just shrugged and went back to washing myself with snow. Seconds later, a portal appeared near to me and out stepped the Ancient one. She gave me a weird look as she watched me paw handfuls of snow into my armpits to wash them - that black gunk was really stuck in there, you know?

"It never ceases to amaze me the lengths you're willing to go through to train yourself but I will admit, finding you naked on top of Mt. Everest wasn't even a thought in my mind," she said with some good-natured snark in her tone, "Bravo," she gave me a classic golf clap.

"Don't lie," I said, wiping off the last bit of gunk, casting a glance her way, "You've had this as a dream haven't you? Me, all alone and naked on a mountain with everything out. Don't go all Tsundere and shy on me, I promise I won't make fun of you," I joked and she just rolled her eyes at me and my antics. Pushing aside the chance to say 'You didn't deny it', I began putting my clothes back on - they'd need a thorough clean themselves - and spoke up, "What brings you here anyway, An?"

Her jaw clenched at my use of the pet name I'd taken to calling her: An (pronounced An-ne, of course). But she knew she could say anything to me about it because I'd already asked for her real name, like, twenty-six times.

"I'm here because I need you to go out and clean up a Demon problem. You did say you have a proficiency with these sorts of things, no?" she pushed through her annoyance at my pet name for her and spoke her reasoning for why she came her. Though upon hearing the word 'Demon' from her, I lost my joking attitude.

Even if these Demons were different from the ones I knew and fought, any Demons are instantly on my bad side no matter where they're from. Call it speciesism, call it whatever you want - you don't just get over the negative connotations for a word when that word is connected to man-eating monsters in your head. Giving a vicious grin, I slung my shirt and jacket over my shoulder, holding my two swords in one hand and spoke to the Ancient One.

"I might not be proficient with the Demons of this world but I've got a bone to pick with 'em if they've caught your attention. Just let me at 'em - I've got some stuff to test out," my voice came out deep and rumbling, the snow around me melting as both the energies in my body began to flood out of me like a typhoon.

Oh yeah, it's time to get back to my Demon Slaying roots.