NOTE
ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ
Alright, finally, this chapter is where the actual demon slaying comes in, but the fighting sucks (And there's barely any of it). I'm so sorry for putting off that topic for so long.

ＥＺＲＡ＇Ｓ ＰＯＶ

As she finally reached the destination of the final selection arena she glanced down at the wrapped food that she held in her hands.

She remembered as Tanjiro and Urokodaki had bid her farewell, her current sensei had even made her a warding mask. She peered closer at it, it was designed to look like a dragon, a creature that Ezra had once talked about. She assumed that he had thought she was interested in it. He had wanted to make her something different from the fox designs that he usually made, since he thought that she was also a bit different from the other students he had trained.

He was correct, she was very different from others, just not in the ways he may have thought.

She shook her head, she was getting off track. The point of staying with Urokodaki and Tanjiro was to learn the basics of demon slaying, after that she was to leave. She had already compromised too much by staying with the main character for so long.

Thankfully Tanjoro and Nezuko would leave a bit after she returned, but she had the feeling that it dreadfully wouldn't be the last time she'd see them.

She wasn't completely sure what would happen if she did mess with the storyline, but the result could be dangerous. It was best not to risk it.

She had bought herself some clothes to better blend in with the time period and Urokodaki had gifted her a light purple haori. Light purple wasn't exactly the best color to wear when fighting demons, but then again it may help her hide among the surrounding Wisteria flowers, so she accepted it. If she had learned anything from her years in battle it was that camouflage was a very valuable tactic for both attack and defense.

Though demons couldn't kill her she didn't need any of the other training slayers to know that, or else she would have to kill them herself. It would be best if she stayed away from other slayers altogether.

She and many other soon-to-be-slayers gathered at the wisteria-surrounded forest. Two children that she identified as the children of Kagaya Ubayashi joined them and informed them about the circumstances of the trial.

After a few more minutes full of explanations the slayer trainees were sent into the forest to begin their challenge. She split off from the large cluster of trainees to venture off by herself.

This would be her second time encountering demons since arriving in demon slayer. She wondered how much energy a demon soul would give her, she hadn't been able to devour any souls since she arrived, she couldn't afford to make either Urokodaki or Tanjiro suspicious.

Her first victim would be a demon, probably multiple ones, an easier and less risky kill that no one would care about.

She stalked her way around the edges of the forest, her light footwork making no sound as she walked around the decaying limbs that littered the forest. These demons are such messy creatures, no wonder they get caught so easily, she thought as she felt two auras approach her.

They were demons obviously, she had left all the other trainees to go to another part of the forest. They were weak and seemed like they would be easy to decapitate, usually, she wouldn't waste her time with such low-level enemies but she decided that she should at least get herself something to eat. There would be no point in using her breathing style either.

Not allowing them to get closer she leaped up into a tree. She was right, her haori helped her blend in with the wisteria flowers that surrounded the forest. Before killing them she wanted to observe them, to get a firsthand view of what they looked and fought like. Yeah, she had seen it in the show, but movies can't compare to the real thing.

She watched as two humanoid demons walked toward where she had stood a few seconds previously. They seemed to be trying to sniff her out. Interesting, she thought as she cautiously made her way down. She felt a few human auras approaching. It seems I won't get to observe these ones more, there will be other chances, she thought as she swiftly moved toward them.

Unsheathing her katana she stabbed one of them against a tree adding a bit more force to her sword so it got lodged into the tree as well. With that one immobilized she turned to the other.

This one had mandible-like limbs on its back like the one that Tanjiro fought before meeting Urokodaki. On all fours, it lunged at her as if it were a wild animal. Easily stepping out of the way she grabbed one of the limbs on its back. She lifted it, throwing it against a rock with a long and sharp edge that sunk straight into its abdomen.

That immobilized it for a few seconds before it used the rest of its mandible-like limbs to push itself off of the rock. Unimpaling itself the hole in its stomach slowly began to regenerate.

Before it could completely regenerate she quickly kicked its legs off and watched as its torso fell to the ground. It crawled towards her but when it got too close she smashed its head under her foot, splattering blood and brain matter all over the ground.

So pointless, she thought. Summoning two small shadow tendrils she sent them in the direction of both demons that were still struggling to get free from their impalement. The shadows extended to reach the torsos of both demons before violently impaling them. The process of taking souls was far from harmless, there was no blood and no injury came from it, but it was beyond painful for whoever or whatever was getting their soul taken.

Both demons let out loud screams of pain as she pulled out two dimly glowing orbs from their bodies. One was a crimson red clock while the other was more of a magenta color, both souls had holes and black dots littered around them. Her shadows retracted and she carefully took the two souls from them before they disappeared. So this is what the soul of a demon looks like. They're much different from a Dai soul, she thought as she inspected them.

The slayer trainees she had sensed before were still on their way and were now very close, so she surrounded both souls in a thin layer of shadows before transporting them to her mindscape. She would use those two later.

Walking over to the now limp body of the demon that was still lodged against a tree she pulled her sword out of its body, allowing the body to fall to the ground.

The hole in its chest began to regenerate slowly. Their bodies still regenerate even when soulless, this may prove to be useful information later, she guessed. To get rid of the evidence she quickly decapitated both demons and their bodies disintegrated. Just as she had placed her sword in its holder, and the demon bodies finished disappearing, five trainee slayers walked into the premises.

It took them long enough, I would have thought that they'd arrive a lot sooner, she pondered as she turned to them.

"Oh, hello!" Exclaimed one of them as she waved at the mono-haired. "Finally, another slayer!" The albino yelled towards the others that she came with.

"Sorry for her." A tall yellow-haired boy apologized. "We haven't seen any other slayers since we got separated from the others."

It's only been a few minutes though, Ezra thought. "I see." She responded. "Well, it's nice to meet you all." She greeted giving a large fake smile. "But I must get going, being near such a large group of people may hinder my efficiency."

"Huh, but isn't it more reasonable to stick in groups, we can protect each other better," a green-haired guy asked.

"I suppose it is." But yet, with the way you've all let your guard down they'll probably kill you anyway, she presumed. Suddenly her smile was replaced with a slight frown.

Startling the others Ezra unsheathed her sword and held it up directly in front of the albino that had first greeted her. This action alerted the other trainees and most of them took fighting stances.

"Woah, what are you doin-!?" A dark brown-haired male tried to ask as he began unsheathing his katana. His question was interrupted as a demon immediately leaped toward them.

The attack had been aimed at the albino, luckily for her Ezra swiftly cut off the demon's head just before it was able to reach the still freaked-out girl.

"It's useless to remain in a group if you can't defend yourselves. Pay more attention to your surroundings, and not strangers that you meet." She sighed. "This..." she paused. "...is why I don't travel in groups. " she finished before turning to leave.

"W-wait!" She heard one of them call out. Turning back around she raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?"

"Please don't go. We could use all the help we can get, and you seem to be more skilled than us." A magenta-haired male pleads.

"Forgive me, but I still refuse. But if you'd allow me to I could give you a piece of advice." She offered. A few nodded and she proceeded. "I will not sugarcoat this, you all seem to be either vaguely immature or unwary of anything that seems to be going on. Focus more on your surroundings instead of trying to find other slayers to join your group." She instructed. "You all seem to have different strengths, I suggest taking a more defensive approach and just trying to stay alive till this whole thing dies down. If that's not an option for you then you can assign people to different categories. The stronger ones will be defense, while the quicker ones of you all will be offense, do you understand?"

"I- um, yes. Thank you," a scarlet-haired trainee spoke up.

"Good," Ezra responded before abruptly leaving. She rethought the events in her head. Why she had given them advice in the first place was something she still couldn't understand, but for now, any thoughts of those trainee slayers would have to be pushed aside. She had a final selection she needed to complete.

ＦＵＮＦＡＣＴＳ
   *･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*
1. I am embarrassed by this chapter, I really am. I suck at writing fight scenes
2. This chapter is (1845) words long

Definition
MINDSCAPE: A space of shadows in Ezra's mind that hold the Pae she has absorbed. There are separate mind spaces where she stores different things.