The Multiverse Voyager

[Chapter start]

I sighed as I flicked my sword, splattering the blood on the ground as I twirled it around and placed it back in my sheath. A gentle mist began to swirl around me, curling through the trees like ghostly tendrils. For a moment, I closed my eyes, exhaling as the tension from the battle faded.

When I opened them, they were there.

Urokodaki's students—every last one of them, their spectral forms flickering faintly in the mist. Sabito stood at the front, his fox mask resting on the side of his head, a soft smile on his face. Beside him, Makomo offered a gentle nod, her gaze warm and reassuring. Behind them, countless other fallen disciples of the Water Breathing technique lingered silently, their presence solemn yet peaceful.

"It's gone," I said. "You can rest now."

The spirits exchanged glances before turning to me, their smiles growing slightly wider. Slowly, they began to fade, their forms dissolving like dew under the morning sun. But Sabito lingered, his voice cutting through the silence.

"Thank you," he said, his tone sincere. "But our spirits will only truly rest once Muzan is dead. Until then, we'll stay and help Urokodaki-Sensei train those who come after us."

I sighed, running a hand through my hair as I watched the last remnants of mist disappear into the trees. "Figures," I muttered. "Nothing's ever simple, is it?"

I opened my eyes as I looked around, noticing that the world had returned to normal. I turned around and saw the five people, whose names I did not remember, barely standing up as they panted heavily.

"You all look terrible," I remarked flatly as I turned to Haruto. "Also, you should take your sparrow back."

I stretched my hand forward as the sparrow flew from my finger to Haruto's head. Then, I looked back at the group, remembering their terrible attempts against the Hand Demon and how underpowered they were.

And yet, I thought as I looked at their bodies, their movements were fascinating.

In simpler terms, if I needed 1 unit of energy and 3 seconds to execute a form of movement or a breathing technique, they could do so in just 0.2 units of energy and 1 second. The only difference was that I possessed enough raw power to ignore this efficiency.

I still have a lot to learn. I'll ask Urokodaki-Sensei about this when I get back.

"Well" I muttered turning around "Pleasure meeting you all"

"Wai-"

Before the man, Itsuki I think, could say anything I had already sprinted far away into the forest.

…

…

…

It's been a week since the Slayer exams started. Aside from encountering the hand demon, the rest of the exams passed uneventfully. Somehow I did not encounter a single demon during these 7 days, perhaps they figured that going someone who killed the strongest demon on this mountain wasn't the brightest of ideas.

I didn't try seeking them out either. If this were a normal case, I would have tried to locate and kill as many demons as possible, but these are the slayer exams and these demons are essential to root out those suitable for becoming Demon Slayers.

This may come off as cruel, considering I was just leaving the people here to die to the demons in this forest, but I'd rather have trained swordsmen prepared for death to perish rather than innocent unwilling civilians.

*swish*

Slicing off a few bushes blocking my path, I trudged along the dirt path as I saw the safe point a distance away. I could have sprinted there in an instant, but it's the middle of the day right now with no threat of demon attacks, and just for once I would like to take it slow.

After walking a while, the environment around me slowly began to change as the previous forest of green trees began to be replaced by a forest of Wisteria trees. I finally relaxed and let my guard down once I entered here.

I look at the WIsteria leaves surrounding me as I reach up and pluck one of the Wisteria leaves from the branch. Perhaps it was because I was too busy training and mastering Water Breathing in the mountains, or because I was too nervous for the Slayer Exams that I never bothered to stop and properly look at these trees,

The leaves were beautiful, glowing a shade of a mixture of purple and blue. Nature dictated that bright objects were usually predators of sorts and the bright colors were meant to attract prey, but these trees were the complete opposite of this rule.

Neither were they harmful to humans, nor did they attract demons towards them. Their smell is extremely repulsive to a demon and even a newly formed demon with no idea about its abilities and weaknesses will instinctively avoid Wisteria trees.

*crunch*

The leaves were surprisingly crunchy for looking so smooth. I half-expected them to taste bitter, but the flavor was surprisingly sweet.

"I-is that guy eating the leaves?"

The atmosphere immediately turned into awkward silence as I heard these words. My ears turned a bit red from embarrassment at being caught eating leaves, like how a parent catches their child.

I immediately turned around upon hearing the sound and saw another two people come out of the forest. From what they looked like, I deduced they weren't part of that group of misfits, but probably siblings or cousins.

The guy had purple eyes and red hair. He had a small nose and an angular jawline, with scars marring both sides of his face. His ears were bloated, probably having a condition called Cauliflower ears from repeated trauma in that area and his hands were scratched and filled with callouses.

Next to him stood a girl clutching his arm tightly containing similar features, having purple eyes and light orange hair instead of the darker red hair. She wore a rose-shaped hairclip on her head along with dull orange earrings. Her face was covered in dirt, but I could make out the faint outlines of dimples present. Just like the man she was clutching onto, her hands were bruised.

Still, this guy's eyes were hollow and full of fear. It reminded me of soldiers from war who fought with their lives on their lines. His hands were slightly shaking and tightly clutching the Nichrin Blade even though he was inside the forest of Wisteria.

"Well" I started out, wondering how I was going to explain what I was doing "I was just wondering why these leaves warded demons away, so I was just uhh…running tests you know?"

"No, I don't," The girl next to him said plainly "And I certainly don't do tests by eating the test materials. Are you a goat in human disguise by any chance?"

"Aha! you caught me" I said in mock astonishment "To think that my instincts and disguise were so flimsy that a bunch of rookies saw through it, but don't worry I'm a good Demon Slaying goat, I won't eat you"

"Pft" The guy snorted "You're so stupid"

It wasn't a full-on laugh, but beneath all that fear and caution I was able to, just for a moment, make them forget that pain and bring out some joy, and that was good enough for me.

"Huh what'd ya know" Kaede muttered ducking under a wisteria branch, with the rest of the group following her "This guy isn't as bad as he looks"

Ah, just when I was proud of myself for doing something good. Why does God test my patience?

"Welcome"

"Welcome"

I looked up as I saw the twins bow and welcome us. I looked around and saw that no new participants other than the ones I met earlier in the forest. This meant that out of the twenty-something people, only us eight made it out alive.

I looked around and saw everyone else already standing up, with only me sitting down. How did they know these twins were going to appear?

"Congratulations"

"We're pleased to see you're safe"

"Mizunoto"

"Mizunoe"

"Kanoto"

"Kanoe"

"Tsuchinoto"

"Tsuchinoe"

"Hinoto"

"Hinoe"

"Kinoto"

"Kinoe."

"These are the ranks of the Slayer Corps in order"

"Right now you are the lowest rank, Mizunoto"

'Holy fuck, who ordered the yappucino?'

*clap clap*

"We will now assign a Kasugai crow to each of you"

On cue, eight crows flew out of forest behind and landed on our arms. I reached out my arm as the crow perched on my hand.

"These crows are primarily used for communication"

"Excuse me," I said raising my hand "Can we teach crows breathing techniques?"

Even though the twins were mostly emotionless, even they were very slightly dumbfounded when I asked such a strange question. 

"...It has never been attempted before"

"Nice," I said, scratching my crow under its neck "I'll be sure to teach you Water Breathing"

"C-caw?"

A few muffled snickers came from behind me, but I ignored them. This was uncharted territory, and I had a vision—an army of breathing-technique-enhanced battle crows.

Before the twins could dismiss my curiosity entirely, they gestured to the small table behind them. "Now, please step forward and choose your Nichirin Ore. The ore you select will be forged into your blade."

We approached the table in turns, each of us staring at the strange, shimmering lumps of metal laid out before us. The ores seemed to pulse faintly, as though they were alive. I reached out, letting my fingers hover over the pieces until one of them gave off a faint warmth, like a heartbeat against my palm.

"This one," I said, lifting it.

"Very well"

I stepped back and waited as the others picked their ores. Once everyone had made their choice, the twins turned to us.

"You are now officially members of the Demon Slayer Corps. Your first assignments will be delivered soon."

With that, they bowed again and left us standing there with nothing but our crows and a heavy silence.

…

…

…

I read quite a lot of manga and their fanfics when I was alive, though, can't say I read a lot of Demon Slayer stuff. There were a few good ones, but most of them just had the MC use some weird dragon-breathing, straight-up wish-fulfillment smut [ Not that I'm complaining ;) ], or just a Chinese translation that has like 1000 chapters or so.

Seriously, how do Chinese authors write that much? Maybe all that Mt. Tai and Junior nonsense increases their word count by a lot.

Anyway, the one thing I've almost always seen is the MC eventually going off alone and meeting up with the main crew after a few chapters of training and killing demons, and then joining a main arc, or straight up just only following the main crew and the major arcs.

Then why the hell am I here with these guys?

"ANOTHER BOWL" Kaede proclaimed loudly, setting down her 45th bowl of Udon. I suppose having bulging muscles while being 6 feet tall needs quite a lot of nutrition, not that the muscles were the only thing bulging.

"Kaede, you're going to bankrupt the entire inn," Haruto muttered, rubbing his temples.

"What's the problem? I'm alive, aren't I?" Kaede shot back, a feral grin plastered across her face.

"AYD" Itsuki shouted, slamming down a Udon bowl in front of me "I challenge you to an eating contest"

"...Are you going to be the one paying?"

"Loser pays"

"Well," I said as a grin slowly formed on my face "Don't mind if I do then"

Arata looked at the chaos calmly, it was as if the everyone had already forgotten about the time they spent in the forest and the times they nearly died, being replaced by this cheery goofy atmosphere instead.

"So" Arata started "Who are you two again?"

"I'm Yori," he said, his voice soft but steady. "And this is my distant cousin, Kanna."

"Hm, I could tell you guys were related" Arata muttered raising up her chopsticks to the both of them "You know when I saw you both getting touchy-touchy with each other earlier, I figured you were engaged"

"Well…" Kanna muttered " We are"

"Huh?"

"Wait" I shouted, slamming down my bowl "Are you guys nobles or something? Keeping the bloodline pure?"

"Ah no," Yori said waving his hands "We're not nobles but, we do have a big merchant business. The thing is, Kanna's father here is the head of the company. Usually, the company is succeeded by a male heir, but they were unable to produce one.

In the case of a female heir, the one that marries the woman becomes the head of the company, meaning her father would lose his company when Kanna gets married to someone, that's why they married her to me"

"Oh," I said, slamming down my 18th bowl, as Itsuki struggled to eat his 15th bowl "That makes a lot of sense"

"Ugh" Itsuki groaned as he got up clutching his stomach, drool leaking from his mouth as he darted outside going to a thick forest with increasingly louder gagging noises "I'll be back in a second-ugh"

Arata paused mid-bite, raising an eyebrow. "Wait, wait, wait—so, you're telling me they married you two off to keep the company in the family? That's... bizarrely practical, but also kind of messed up."

Kanna smiled nervously, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "It's not as bad as it sounds. Yori and I grew up together, so it's not like we're strangers. And, well... I don't dislike him."

Yori cleared his throat, his face slightly flushed. "It's a mutual arrangement. We both agreed to it."

"Still sounds like nobles trying to keep the gold in the vault," I muttered, finishing off another bowl. "But hey, if it works for you, who am I to judge?"

"Exactly," Yori said with a small, relieved smile. "It's not like we're being forced into anything. Besides, it lets us both focus on what we want to do."

"And what's that?" Haruto asked, his curiosity piqued.

Yori leaned back slightly, his gaze steady. "I want to use our resources to help rebuild villages affected by demon attacks. I've seen firsthand how much damage they can do—not just to people but to entire communities."

Kanna nodded in agreement. "And I want to make sure those efforts are sustainable. If we're going to help people, we need to do it the right way."

"Well, damn," Kaede said, crossing her arms. "That's... pretty noble. Guess I can't make fun of you two anymore."

"Not that it'll stop you," Yori said with a chuckle.

Arata smirked. "Oh, don't worry. I'll find something else to tease you about."

"What about you guys?" Yori said, "How's your family status?"

"Deceased"

"Dead"

"I'm an orphan"

"Demon attacked them"

"Never saw them"

"Abandoned me"

"Ah," Yori said awkwardly, scratching his head "Forgive me then"

An awkward silence settled over the group, the cheerful banter from earlier now replaced with the heavy weight of shared tragedy. The only sounds were the clinking of bowls and the faint rustle of wind outside the inn.

Kaede, who had been unusually quiet during the exchange, broke the silence with her usual bluntness. "Well, we're all alive now, aren't we? So who cares about the past? We've got work to do, demons to kill, and bowls to finish. Speaking of which, another one over here!"

The sudden shift in tone drew a few chuckles from the group, breaking the tension. Haruto shook his head with a tired smile. "You're going to regret that when we're out in the field tomorrow, Kaede."

"Regret's for people who aren't hungry," Kaede retorted, slurping down her udon with a satisfied grin.

Yori gave a small smile, clearly relieved that the mood had lightened. "Well, regardless of our pasts, we're all here now. That's what matters."

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, waving him off as I slammed my bowl down triumphantly. "Eighteen bowls. That's a personal best."

Arata rolled her eyes. "Congratulations, champion. I'm sure you'll be remembered in the history books for your eating contests."

"Hey," I said, pointing my chopsticks at her. "I'm building morale. You should be thanking me."

"Building morale by bankrupting the inn?" Haruto quipped, smirking.

Before I could retort, Itsuki stumbled back into the room, pale-faced and clutching his stomach. "I'm never eating udon again," he groaned, collapsing into a chair.

"Lightweight," I said, smirking.

"Shut up," he muttered, shooting me a glare.

Before the conversation could continue, the door slid open, and the innkeeper poked his head in. "If you're all finished eating, I'll bring the bill."

Everyone collectively froze.

"...Who's paying?" Haruto asked cautiously.

All eyes turned to Kaede, who grinned sheepishly. "Uh... I might've forgotten my wallet."

"You've got to be kidding me," I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Relax," Yori said, pulling out a small pouch of coins. "This one's on me."

"Rich kid to the rescue," Arata teased.

…

…

…

"So, what's our next destination then?" Itsuki said, crossing his arms behind his back "Since we're all a group, do you think we'll get the same mission?"

"Hm," Arata hummed while rubbing her chin "A group of eight slayers is a large group. If we do get the same mission, it will be a dangerous mission like taking on a group of demons, or reconnaissance of an unknown demon territory. If we get unlucky, we could get a mission that involves a lower moon"

"Lower moon…" Kaede muttered in a low voice "We couldn't even take on that demon back in the forest. Maybe we should all find a way to train before we embark on missions these dangerous so we can atleast survive a lower moon"

"Speaking of," Yori said, running up to me "Me and Kanna saw you take on that big green demon back in the forest. Just the atmosphere around that guy was oppressive and those five were getting overwhelmed, but you took that guy down like nothing, How'd you do that?"

'Why are they so impressed after I defeated such a low-level demon?'

"Ah" I muttered "it's all thanks to Urokodaki-Sensei's training"

"Um," Kanna muttered "Who's Urokodaki-Sensei?"

"He's a former Water Hashira," Kaede said while still formulating a plan for training

"Ah, no wonder" Yori shouted, slamming his fist in his palm "Me and Kanna use Water Breathing too, but we were never able to reach that level, maybe if we had a Hashira guide us…"

"Hm, maybe" I nodded "But I've gotta go now"

"Huh?" Haruto muttered, "Aren't we a group?"

"I'm sorry guys, but I've gotta decline," I said shaking my head "My training is far from over, once I've completed my training I'll join you guys. Besides, my Nichrin Katana is going to be delivered to my Sensei, so I've gotta go get it"

'If I'm getting one that is' I thought looking down at my Nichrin Blade 'My path is of the fist, not the sword'

The group fell silent, processing my words. Haruto, still looking a bit confused, crossed his arms. "So, what happens to us then? Are we just splitting up already?"

I shook my head. "Not exactly. You all are strong—well, strong enough—but there's still a long way to go for everyone here. Stick together, train hard, and grow as a team. By the time I come back, I want to see a group that can handle something tougher than that Hand Demon without breaking a sweat."

Arata raised an eyebrow, her lips curling into a sly grin. "And what makes you so confident you'll even catch up with us if we grow that much? Leaving us now might make you the weakest link later, AYD."

I smirked, leaning slightly forward. "Oh, don't worry about me. When I come back, you'll all be the ones trying to keep up."

Kaede let out a bark of laughter, slamming her palm on her thigh. "Cocky, aren't you? Fine, go run off and train. Just don't cry when we've all taken down a Lower Moon without you."

"I'll keep that in mind," I replied, turning my attention back to Yori and Kanna. "As for you two, keep working on your Water Breathing techniques. They've got potential, but if you really want to improve, you'll have to push yourselves way harder than you've been doing."

Yori nodded, determination flashing in his eyes. "I'll do that. Maybe one day, we'll be able to reach the level you're at."

"You better," I said with a grin.

Haruto, still looking a bit uneasy, finally spoke up again. "So, where are you headed, then? Back to Urokodaki-Sensei's mountain?"

I nodded. "That's the plan. I need to see my training through to the end, and more importantly, I need my Nichirin sword. This one—" I gestured to the blade at my side, "—is just a training weapon. I can't face real threats without my own blade."

The room was quiet for a moment, the weight of my departure sinking in.

"Well, don't die," Itsuki said suddenly, breaking the silence as he crossed his arms. "We'll need you to cover our asses when we're up against something really nasty."

"Oh, Mr. Shy Boy just cursed" I chuckled. "I'll make sure to stay alive just for that."

"Promise us one thing," Kaede said, her voice unusually serious. "When you come back, don't hold back in a fight. We're going to get stronger, and we want to see what you're really capable of."

"Deal," I said, standing up and stretching. "Until then, don't go picking fights you can't win. I'll see you all soon."

And with that, I disappeared, setting off to Urokodaki-Sensei's mountain.

…

…

…

Suppp

So I know I said there was going to be a Martial Arts MC, but I have run into a roadblock because there's not much martial arts stuff in Demon Slayer. Before you say anything, I just prefer a Martial Artist MC over a swordsman MC, which is why I'm making him go down this route.

Now, I have found a way to overcome this, but if worst comes to worst, I'll just send him off to a Martial Arts World (I don't read pure Martial Arts stuff, so it might take a while to pick a manga and completely read it) but it shouldn't come to that.

Trust in the process my fellas, even though I haven't been very trustworthy with all the fanfics I've dropped.

Why am I even ranting? People barely read this fanfic anyways, no one's even seeing this.