Kate said, "Let's fight after I've learned some sword techniques, okay?"
"No! I want to fight you right now! You did good on the practice!" Inosuke shouted.
"Indeed. Then let's try it. You're the type who doesn't stop, so I'll beat the answer into you," Kate said.
"NICE!" Inosuke shouted as he got ready.
"Then let's start," Kate said.
Inosuke dashed toward Kate immediately, but she aimed her hand toward him and materialized a barrier, causing Inosuke to collide head-first with it.
"That boar!" Zenitsu exclaimed.
"See, once you can destroy my Divine Protection, I'll fight you again," Kate said as she began to walk away. However, Inosuke grabbed her hand and pulled her back.
"Hey! I'm still in a kimono!" Kate protested as she activated a full circular golden-yellow barrier, enclosing herself.
"Inosuke! How dare you do that to her!" Zenitsu shouted, running toward Inosuke.
"She was going back; that's a sneak attack!" Tanjiro said.
"No! That's not a sneak attack! We're still in battle, plus how dare she turn her back against me," Inosuke retorted.
"You fell down when you hit your head, and the Saintess didn't know how hard your head is. She probably thought you fainted or something," Tanjiro explained.
"Tanjiro, what happened?" Shinobu asked, staring at the big ball of golden-yellow light.
"Shinobu-san, Inosuke and the Saintess fought. While the Saintess thought Inosuke fainted, she started to go back to the house. Then Inosuke suddenly attacked her again and pulled her, making her kimono loose. In panic, she did that," Tanjiro explained.
"I see," Shinobu said, assessing the situation.
"Miss Shinobu, can you enter and help me a little? I don't know how to wear a kimono properly, so it's loose," Kate said from inside the barrier.
"I see, so that's why it became loose with just a strong pull," Shinobu replied.
"Yes," Kate confirmed, opening a small hole for Shinobu to enter.
"What should I do with you? You're the Saintess, but you can't even wear a kimono properly," Shinobu teased.
"Well, I got dragged into these circumstances," Kate said as she allowed Shinobu to fix her kimono.
"Right, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that this is all new to you. I'm sorry," Shinobu said apologetically.
"It's okay. I agreed to this in the first place. Just please let me take my time to adapt to everything," Kate responded.
"You don't have to worry. This is why Master let you live in my house, so take your time," Shinobu reassured her.
After some time, Shinobu finished fixing Kate's kimono. "It's done," she said.
"Thank you again, Miss Shinobu," Kate said as she opened a larger hole, allowing them both to exit the barrier. Kate looked at Inosuke, and an octagonal shield appeared in front of her. It extended suddenly, hitting Inosuke and sending him flying into a tree. Kate followed Shinobu back inside the house.
"Remind me not to annoy her, okay?" Zenitsu said.
"I don't smell anything on her," Tanjiro thought to himself. "Right, we need to help Inosuke!" Tanjiro shouted.
Kate headed to her room after the fight. "I need to form my Spirit Sword as soon as possible. The breathing techniques can wait," she thought as she prepared to cultivate her Spirit Sword. Suddenly, she heard a knock on her door. "Who is it?" Kate asked.
"This is Tanjiro. I want to ask the Saintess something," came the reply.
Hearing Tanjiro, Kate stood up and opened the door for him. "Please enter and take a seat," Kate said as she returned to her bed while Tanjiro sat down, looking at her.
"I want to know how the Saintess got her powers," Tanjiro said.
"First of all, why does everyone call me a Saintess?" Kate asked.
"Because Master announced the Saintess' arrival," Tanjiro explained.
"I see," Kate said, pausing to gather her thoughts. "I don't know how I got my powers. They came to my mind once I practiced Demon Slayer techniques," Kate explained. "There may be some truth in that. I mastered the Divine Barrier when I mastered the Total Concentration Breathing Technique. When I learned the constant version, I was able to start the formation of a sword with my Divinity Element," she thought to herself, looking at Tanjiro.
"My second question is that you smell like a Spider Lily," Tanjiro said.
"I'm glad that I smell like that," Kate replied.
"Right. Tanjiro has a strong sense of smell. What if he can smell my bad intentions?" Kate wondered.
"I'm confused," Tanjiro admitted. "Everyone has various smells on top of each other. anger, regret, happiness, but the Saintess has the smell of Spider Lily, the blue one to be exact, and that's all I can smell from the Saintess," Tanjiro explained.
"You don't smell anything else on me?" Kate asked.
"Yes, it's strange," Tanjiro said.
"I don't know why," Kate said. "Maybe because I'm the Saintess," she explained, though she thought, "Or maybe because I'm not from this world or because I'm a cultivator. Cultivators don't smell bad due to their purified bodies."
"I see," Tanjiro replied. He stood up. "Thank you, Saintess, for answering my question," he said.
Kate watched Tanjiro leave, lost in her thoughts. "Maybe I will learn new techniques if I learn more Demon Slayer techniques," she thought to herself.
The magical panel popped up in front of Kate, stating, "You forgot the quest, but you have finished the First World Quest: Choose a Side." Kate, after reading this, saw another panel appearing on top, stating, "The rewards are 2 Enchantability Chips." Two small cubes materialized in front of her. "Enchantability Chip?" Kate wondered aloud, but another panel popped up, stating:
Quests
Main Quest
Kill the Demon Lord
World Quest
Become a Hashira
Kill an Uppermoon
Kill a Lowermoon
Side Quest
Kill 1 Demon
Events
(none)
"So these are my quests. The events section is empty; maybe something will appear once the circumstances are right," Kate thought to herself. She closed all the panels, pondering the significance of the Enchantability Chips and the tasks ahead.
Kate finished practicing the Flower Breathing techniques as the sun began to rise. "It's morning already?" she said, using a towel to wipe away her sweat. "Maybe I should take a bath."
She heard Aoi's voice outside, "Kate-san, will you eat breakfast today?"
Kate opened the door, and Aoi immediately noticed the strong scent of spider lilies emanating from the room. "Are you practicing, Kate-san?" Aoi asked, noticing Kate's sweat.
"Yes, I just finished," Kate replied.
"You smell like a flower, even when you sweat. Wow," Aoi remarked.
"It's about my scent again?" Kate said, slightly exasperated. "Let's not talk about my sweat; it's kinda weird."
"I'm sorry for my rudeness. I will prepare the bath as fast as I can," Aoi said, bowing and leaving, looking embarrassed.
"What was that? All of them are concerned about my smell. Let's forget that and get ready," Kate thought to herself as she prepared for her bath.
After a long bath, Kate finished dressing with Aoi's help. "Kate-san, how can you practice with a kimono?" Aoi asked.
"It's hard, but it helps me minimize my movements and think for maximum output with minimal effort. It helps me look elegant or majestic, I guess," Kate explained.
"I see," Aoi replied.
"Is that all? That's the reply?" Kate thought to herself.
"We're done, Kate-san," Aoi said after some time.
"Thank you, Miss Aoi," Kate said as she headed out.
"You're welcome, Kate-san. Shinobu-san is waiting for you in the backyard. Please head there as soon as possible," Aoi said.
"Alright," Kate said.
In the backyard, Shinobu greeted Kate. "Kate, I heard that you practiced throughout the night again?"
"Yes, since I don't need to sleep, I don't like to waste time," Kate replied.
"I see. Then let's see the result of your night practice," Shinobu said, tossing a wooden katana towards Kate.
"Please guide me," Kate said as she caught the wooden katana. "I should use the techniques I learned from the Sword Spirit Cultivation," she thought to herself.
"Miss Shinobu, I'll show you how the Saintess fights," Kate said confidently.
"How a Saintess fights?" Shinobu said with interest. "Then let's see how a human-made technique fares against a mysterious one like yours," she added, getting ready.
Kate held her in a reverse Grip, standing straight with her left hand forming a sword finger.
After a short time of staring at each other, Shinobu broke the silence by dashing straight towards Kate and swinging her katana from down right to upper left. Kate, seeing Shinobu's move, stepped her left foot backward and used her wooden katana to guide Shinobu's attack effortlessly. She let Shinobu's wooden katana slide along her own flawlessly.
This action surprised Shinobu with its smoothness and swiftness. In a blink of an eye, Shinobu's neck was between Kate's wooden katana and her forearm. Realizing her vulnerable position immediately, Shinobu dashed to her left with all her strength to escape.
"You did great, Miss Shinobu," Kate said, looking at Shinobu and returning to her fighting stance.
"You... That move, how did you managed to do that?" Shinobu asked, breathing heavily.
"By letting my katana slide your sword, my last action made both my hand and body face the left upper side while your hand was on my lower right side. Since you were holding your katana in a reverse grip, you opened the gap between your katana and forearm. Then you just put your forearm on my neck and locked me with the back of your katana," Shinobu explained.
"Indeed, being a Saintess not only grants me power but also the experience of the past Saintesses and their fighting abilities," Kate Explained.
Kate thought to herself, "You're just slow. Even if I don't get any abilities upon arriving here, I'll still wreck everyone. My body is many times stronger than everyone here." She added, "Having the body of a cultivator is a huge plus."
"I see, I really underestimated you," Shinobu said, getting ready to fight again. "This time, I won't."
Shinobu dashed towards Kate with incredible speed, using "Insect Breathing, Dance of the Bee Sting: True Flutter." Kate quickly formed a small hexagonal transparent shield with a golden glow using her Divine Protection skill to block Shinobu's attack. However, upon impact, the shield cracked and shattered. Kate immediately jumped backward to gain distance, but Shinobu was already in front of her. "Insect Breathing, Dance of the Butterfly: Caprice," Shinobu said, hitting Kate midair and making her fall flat while Shinobu landed gracefully.
"Underestimating you was my mistake, but underestimating me after a small win, look at you now," Shinobu said.
"That's fast, extremely fast. How can a normal human do that?" Kate thought to herself as she stood up.
"No injuries?" Shinobu asked.
"Since Miss Shinobu is taking this seriously, then I should do it too, even a little," Kate said, changing her stance. "That attack didn't hurt me, but the speed of it surprised me. Is my thinking of having my original body here wrong?" she wondered.
Kate dashed straight at Shinobu. "A frontal assault?" Shinobu remarked.
"Flower Breathing, Fourth Form: Crimson Hanagoromo," Kate said, her wooden katana starting to emit flower petals and leaves. "What!?" Shinobu exclaimed, barely dodging the attack at the last second. Despite her quick reflexes, the graceful, twisting sword slash of the Crimson Hanagoromo left multiple scratches on her arms.
"What was that?" Shinobu said, staring at her bleeding arms. "Did the Flower Breathing just materialize?" She thought to herself, noticing the small wounds caused by what felt like a whip. "I think I just saw a peduncle. That's what caused my current small wounds."
"Did I just do that? Did you see that, Miss Shinobu?" Kate asked, bewildered.
"Y-yes," Shinobu replied, still in shock.
"So, I can materialize breathing techniques?" Kate wondered aloud.
"So you didn't know?" Shinobu asked.
"Yes, that's why I used it on you. I didn't mean to hurt you that badly," Kate explained.
Kate rushed towards Shinobu. "Are you okay, Miss Shinobu?" she asked.
"I'm all right. It's just light wounds. We need to report this to Master," Shinobu said.
"Then please get well first. I'll practice here for now, and if you can, please provide me with a book of all the breathing techniques. I want to learn them all," Kate replied.
"Okay, then I'll ask Master about it," Shinobu said as she started to head back.
"Thank you, Miss Shinobu," Kate said, then went under the tree and sat down. "It's amazing that I can materialize breathing techniques. I wonder why," Kate thought aloud. "Let's just cultivate my Spirit Sword first before thinking of anything else."
She put her hands close together, and the red blob appeared again, pulsing with a red glow.