Three hours later, Ishida's eyes fluttered open, finding himself in the familiar confines of his own room. Confusion clouded his mind—how had he ended up here? The last thing he remembered was losing consciousness in the forest after defeating a demon.
Wasting no time, he stepped out of his room and noticed a tall man standing silently by the window. The man had dark, shoulder-length hair that partially obscured his face, and he wore a distinctive haori—one half patterned with green and yellow squares, the other a deep maroon. His arms were crossed, and his gaze was distant, watching the world outside.
Ishida hesitated, then softly cleared his throat to get the man's attention. "Um, excuse me. How did I end up here?" he asked quietly.
The man turned slightly, meeting Ishida's gaze with a calm intensity. "I found you in the forest. You were unconscious," he replied, his tone steady.
Ishida nodded, processing the information. "Thank you. I guess I owe you for that."
"It was necessary. Are you feeling alright now?" the man asked, giving a small nod in acknowledgment.
"Yeah, I think so," Ishida replied, glancing around. "You brought me back here, but I don't think I caught your name."
"Giyu Tomioka," the man said simply, his eyes returning to the window.
"I'm Ishida," he offered, feeling compelled to reciprocate. "So, you, uh, like windows?"
Giyu blinked, slightly taken aback by the question. "I find them... calming," he admitted after a pause.
"Yeah, I get that. It's peaceful just watching the world go by," Ishida agreed, moving to stand beside him. The room fell into a comfortable silence.
After a moment, Giyu broke the quiet. "You became a slayer in less than 40 days. I didn't expect that."
"Yes... But..." Ishida paused, realization dawning on him. "Wait... Were you the one who saved me and took me to Akira-san after the demon attack?"
Giyu turned slightly and nodded. "But my question remains: how did you become a demon slayer so quickly?"
Ishida walked to the kitchen, filling a glass with water. He took a sip, gathering his thoughts. 'I can't tell anyone about the system. It would sound unbelievable. But what can I say about becoming a slayer so fast?'
Turning back to Giyu, Ishida spoke carefully. "Well, Akira-san helped me recover quickly after the attack. Once I was back on my feet, I threw myself into training. I guess I was just motivated, you know? After everything that happened, I wanted to be ready."
Giyu listened, his expression unreadable but attentive. Ishida continued, "I pushed myself hard. Maybe it was luck, maybe determination. Either way, it felt like the right path."
"Motivation can be a powerful force," Giyu said thoughtfully.
Relieved that Giyu didn't press further, Ishida placed the glass down and offered, "Would you like some water?"
"No, I'm good, thanks," Giyu replied immediately.
"Or something else? I'm a good cook, and there might be some food left," Ishida suggested, unsure of what more to say.
"No, it's okay. You can cook for yourself if you want," Giyu said, moving toward the door. "But I need to leave," he added, stopping Ishida from speaking further. "I've already sent the information about your mission to the Demon Slayer Corps through Kasugai Crow."
"I see. Thanks," Ishida replied with a nod. "I need to leave too. I'm heading to the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters."
Giyu nodded and proceeded to walk out of the house. Ishida followed, retrieving his sword from the living room, likely placed there by Giyu.
As he locked the door, Ishida asked, "Did you bring me here alone?"
"Yes," Giyu confirmed, tossing a key to Ishida. "Your house key. It was in your pocket."
"Thanks," Ishida responded, pocketing the key as he followed Giyu.
After that they both walked together towards the demon slayer headquarter.
Most of the way, Ishida and Giyu were both silent throughout the journey until they finally reached the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters.
Giyu left Ishida on his own, saying he had some important work to do, and told him to rest.
Ishida entered the headquarters and headed directly towards the house he was given to live in, inside the Slayer Corps headquarters.
He remembered Sakura, who was currently in the care of a medical facility, which was not a medical facility, but Ishida liked to think of it as one. So, instead of going there now, he decided to visit her later and went to the headquarters room given to him.
There were several other rooms for other slayers as well, and Sakura took one of them too, but because of her injury she was being monitored. And also she kind of liked that place.
The next morning...
Ishida had already completed the daily quest given by the system and was currently sitting comfortably in his room. He hadn't been given any new missions since returning from the previous one. So, he decided to check his profile and allocate the 5 stat points he received from the daily quest he had just completed, as well as the experience points he gained from the previous mission.
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Name: Ishida Hitotsuki
Level: 25 [Exp : 14500 needed to Level up]
Rank : Tsuchinoto
Fatigue: 00/100
---
Breathing Style: Moon Breathing
First Form: Dark Moon, Evening Palace
Second Form: Pearl Flower Moongazing
Third Form - Third Form: Loathsome Moon, Chains
Fifth Form: Moon Spirit Calamitous Eddy - Consumes 50 MP for each use.
Sixth Form: Perpetual Night, Lonely Moon - Incessant - Consumes 200MP For Each Use.
Seventh Form: Mirror of Misfortune, Moonlit - Consumes 300MP For Use
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
HP: 580/580
MP: 530/530 [Note : After use , It will take the user to get back to his full HP to recover the used MP]
---
Attributes:
- Strength: 64
- Vitality: 58
- Agility: 54
- Intelligence: 53
- Sense: 54
Remaining Points: 12
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
"Wait, when did I get promoted to that rank!? If I remember correctly, that's 3-4 ranks higher than Mizunoe, which I thought I was still in," Ishida thought. For a moment, he considered it might be a mistake in the system, but then he continued thinking about the points he had left and where to allocate them. "I have 12 points, so, 2 points for strength..."
[Strength : 64 +2 = 66^]
"Good. Now, 4 points to vitality because I would like more HP and greater resistance to fatigue."
[Vitality : 58 + 4 = 62]
[HP : 620/620]
[Remaining points - 6]
"6 points left... I'll allocate 2 points to each of the 3 stats. I think that will be good enough. I want to maintain a very balanced stat distribution for each ability."
[Agility : 54 + 2 = 56]
[Intelligence : 53 + 2 = 55]
[MP : 550/550]
[Sense : 54 + 2 = 56]
"It's all good. Now, I just need to wait for the next mission to see the improvements," Ishida thought. However, the rank issue remained unchanged in the player profile provided by the system.
Even if he had ranked up that much, someone would have informed him, right? At least, that's what Ishida was thinking at the moment.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of the crow—the crow given to him for communication purposes by the Demon Slayer Corps.
The crow flew in through the window of the room and perched on the table in front of Ishida.
The crow perched on the table and cawed, "Caw! Ishida Hitotsuki, you are summoned to the Ubuyashiki Resident for an important meeting with the Demon Slayer Corps! Caw!"
'Ubuyashiki Resident !? But why me !?' Ishida felt a surprise.
Why would they summon him in meeting !?