Demon Slayer : LEveLing uP

After the crow had given the direction of the mission to both Sakura and Ishida , without wasting time they both left for the forest from their place.

It took Sakura almost 13 hours to reach the forest , while she reached there Ishida hadn't reach their yet. She thought for waiting there for sometimes ,but realizing how necessary it was to act quickly at this mission, she entered the forest all alone.

On the other hand , Ishida was still a little far from reaching the location. Even with his speed that he had acquired through training and stat upgrade, it was still not enough to cover the distance of the forest from his house less than 13 hours of sakura.

'i hope she waits for me and not enter the place all alone' He thought, ' Although, I don't think it would be too difficult for even her if the same demons I fought last time in that Forests are the one causing the problems. They were too weak even for her' Ishida thought.

In reality, Ishida had set a very low standard for Sakura , although she was capable in her own way, she has a lot of improvements to make yet. Her gripping style to performing breathing forms are not necessarily the worst but not good as well, which Ishida noticed during the final selection exam. But , then again comparing him will just be wrong, because his case was very very special and different than anyone out there.

Meanwhile, Sakura , who had already entered the forest , was just walking slowly inside. It was already evening time, so it was very obvious that there will be demons around this time, so she felt a bit regret for entering the forest at first. But was already too late for her to return.

'Why Ishida is not here yet !?' She thought, but her thought was interrupted by a sudden scream coming out from very nearby to her, as she tried her best to remain calm, as she went towards the source of the scream.

But , after sometimes when she reached the place and looked around she found no one around. No trace of any life form in existence to that place at all , nor any existence of Demon that she could see. Only trees and darkness all around her that she could sense.

'I thought the scream was from here, but,there is no one here' She thought.

But , suddenly she sensed a demon nearby as she quickly unsheathed her sword and blocked one of the demons claws that was coming towards her. The demon came out of tree, just like the demons Ishida fought. As she blocked the attack with demon used it's force to make her push back as it retreated back inside the tree where it came from.

Sakura was momentarily blank at what just happened. Did that demon just came out from that tree and went back inside !? How couldn't she sense the demons at all

In reality, These demons were oddly powerful in terms of hiding their presence. It was only because of Ishida's heightened perception that he got through the system Upgraded stats that he could sense the demons the last time he faced them in the same forest. But for someone like Sakura , who had just passed out at the final selection, and had very few times of fighting strong demons, had no chance of sensing the presence or attack of these demons.

Sakura stood amidst the darkness of the forest, her senses on high alert. The demons' ability to blend seamlessly with the trees made them a formidable foe. Despite the initial shock of the attack, she quickly regained her composure, tightening her grip on her sword.

As the demon lunged at her again, she deftly parried its claws, though the impact pushed her back slightly. She reminded herself of the training she had undergone, knowing she needed to rely on her instincts and skills to survive.

The demon emerged once more, and with a focused mind, she executed a powerful slash, ",Water Breathing , First Form : Water Surface Slash" Her blade struck true, and the demon dissolved into ash with a chilling scream.

For a fleeting moment, she felt a sense of accomplishment, but the respite was short-lived as all of a sudden another attack came from the left side of her as she almost gets hit by the claw of the demon but shielded herself with sword , which made her skid back a bit and towards another nearby tree behind her. In almost an instant another demon came out of the tree behind her back as she instinctively looked back and almost at the end moment jumped out of the demon's attack but the demons claw had left scratches at her leg, as she landed at the ground with a pain running through her leg as he landed.

It seemed the attack of the claw from the demon had landed at her calf as she jumped, almost at the last moment, the demon got a bit of her leg with it's claw.

She landed at her legs as she looked down to see the place the demon left the scratch on, as she felt a small pain and it was bleeding for a bit as well. The demon's scratch even took out some part of her clothes as well.

As she stood up , but before she react another demon charged towards her with it's claws as she tried her best to move out but she couldn't, as she couldn't evade the attack she went with her sword as she slashed towards the direction of the demon, but completely missed the attack. At this moment she tried her best to remain calm but she couldn't, without thinking she launched another slash towards the demon as again this time the demon dodged the attack completely, as she frustratedly thought, 'I missed again, Why can't I put a slay !?'

In the meantime , Ishida hadn't arrived at the location yet. What would happen now ?