Aura's horns pierced the soft belly of the wolf, causing it to whimper in pain and thrash its legs, splattering blood everywhere.
But soon after, the uncontrollable wolf died completely.
Aura, with the wolf's carcass impaled on her head, couldn't lift her head and was forced to look down. After a moment of stunned silence, she glared at Ash with an annoyed expression and let out a long sigh:
"Is this… polite? What do you take me for?"
"I'm the one who wants to ask, what were you doing?" Ash, feeling the blood still flowing from his neck, retorted irritably. "Are you trying to become a true orphan? If I were a normal human, I'd be dead by now, wouldn't I?"
"…You might not believe me, but this time it wasn't my doing."
"I know, and from the start, I could tell your control was completely unstable."
"Hmm, it does need some work. So, could I ask you to let me control you for a bit?" Aura looked at him with an unprecedented serious expression. "Don't worry, I won't actually control you! And once my magic is perfected, I'll definitely repay your kindness!"
"Aura…"
"Big brother!"
The two locked eyes, creating a "loving sibling" atmosphere, and the smile on Aura's lips was barely contained. But…
"—Don't even dream about it." Ash casually slapped her face and gently pushed her.
The girl with the wolf carcass on her head lost her balance and fell backward.
"Tch… No luck, huh? Only Ash… but his guard is pretty strong…" Aura lay sprawled on the ground, clicking her tongue in frustration. She stared at the tree canopy above, deep in thought. Whether she was thinking about improving her magic or plotting to trick Ash was unclear.
Ash also understood that the lack of a teacher was a clear disadvantage among demons. The slow progress of self-taught magic was inevitable, and having some flaws was only natural.
But for now, he didn't care about that. He crouched beside Aura, looking at the girl who showed no trace of remorse with a flat expression:
"Aura, don't you think you owe me something to say?"
"I almost forgot, Ash, hurry up and get this carcass off my head. I feel like my neck's going to snap."
"That's not it."
"…It's just a little blood on your neck, it won't kill you. Why do you care so much? Anyway, for us, even without blood, we won't die, right? Just get weaker." Aura covered her mouth and giggled.
To Ash, that was a punchable expression. His eyelids twitched, and he could barely restrain himself from committing sibling murder.
Aura also realized Ash was on the verge of rage, so she shrugged and spread her hands. "Alright, alright~ Don't get so mad. I know I messed up. Next time, I'll do better, and tonight I'll cook something delicious for you, how about that?"
"Is that the extent of your sincere apology? Your attitude's a bit off, isn't it?"
"Ash, think about it. When my magic is perfected, we won't need to hunt anymore. You can wait at home while others cook for us."
"When you put it that way, it doesn't sound bad?"
"So, can you help me get this thing off now? My horns are stuck in its ribs, I can't get it off myself."
Rolling on the ground, trying to pull the wolf off her head, Aura's two horns were caught in its ribs. She was forced to sit with both hands supporting the wolf's carcass, looking at him with an awkward but polite smile.
Ash looked at the blood-drenched figure before him, pondered for a moment, then walked toward another wolf carcass. "…No way. Just go back like that. It'll save me some effort."
"Hey! That's super weird, isn't it?"
"Just kidding. But for now…" As he spoke, Ash conjured a fireball in his palm, picked up a tree branch from the ground, burned it until it glowed red, and handed it to Aura. "Please stop my bleeding first."
"Oh, oh~ I'm great at this! Leave it to me!"
Aura, who had looked sluggish moments ago, sprang up with the wolf carcass still on her head. She took the branch and pressed it against Ash's neck.
Accompanied by the sound of sizzling flesh, the air filled with the smell of burnt meat.
Ash gritted his teeth and furrowed his brow, cold sweat dripping down.
Aura, on the other hand, shouted excitedly, "This is great! Ash! Are you trembling? I'm so thrilled my hands are shaking too!"
"—You're the one who's thrilled, aren't you?!" Aura's bizarre excitement made him unable to hold back a curse. "I told you to learn healing magic, but you never listen! All you do every day is study mental magic! So every time we get hurt, we have to torment each other like this! Are you a masochist and a sadist?"
"No way. I don't like pain, I just love seeing you tremble! It's seriously amazing! I still don't want to learn healing magic! Isn't this way better?"
"Isn't it the same when you get hurt?!"
"No way~! Whatever you say, I'm not doing it! That magic's too much hassle. You don't even want to learn it yourself, and you're telling me to learn it just so you can boss me around for life! I'm not that dumb! And isn't this great?!"
"…"
The unhidden excitement in her voice behind him made Ash grumble inwardly, deciding to spank her when they got home.
But for now, he had basically given up on getting Aura to learn healing magic… He couldn't learn it himself, and Aura had no intention of trying. Even when she was injured and had to stop bleeding with a hot branch, she still refused to change her focus.
Fortunately, their physical condition didn't need to worry about viruses or bacteria.
For now, the only thing they needed to be cautious of was the smell of blood attracting monsters or wild beasts… After all, even though they were demons, they couldn't communicate with monsters and would even attack each other. Just like demons killing their own kind.
At this moment, Ash was enduring immense pain, while Aura was so excited her breathing grew heavy, making him unable to help but lament the terrible innate nature of demons.
At the same time, Ash genuinely didn't believe this was the result of his upbringing. After all, he was still a child himself, a blank slate… more or less.