The "loving" duo spent night after night together, and before they knew it, another year had passed as wandering orphans.
At noon in the primeval forest, sunlight poured down like a waterfall, piercing through the dense canopy to dapple the ground with golden patches.
The forest air felt slightly warmed by the sun, carrying the fresh scent of greenery and damp soil, mingled with a thick stench of blood.
Over a dozen wolf corpses lay scattered among the trees, wooden spears piercing their bodies as if launched by a siege crossbow.
Using gravity magic combined with spears, Ash had cleared out a pack of wolves slowed by Aura's mental control. At her request, he pinned down the last one with gravity magic.
The sole survivor, its movements restricted, glared fiercely, its silver fur glinting in the sunlight. Clearly terrified of these two monsters, it let out low, guttural growls despite its predicament.
But before it could threaten for long, Aura, having roughly constructed her signature magic, conjured a delicate small scale in her hand.
"Now let's see who's stronger, you or me!" Aura declared boldly, aiming the scale at the wolf. She glanced at the boy beside her, adding, "Ash! If the scale tips toward me, kill that wolf immediately!"
Before Ash could respond, the scale swiftly tilted toward the wolf, and the whimpering creature stopped struggling, lying obediently still on the ground.
"What's that?" Ash began, but Aura crouched beside the wolf, not looking up. "Let it go, Ash. It's my pet now."
"So, you succeeded with your mental control magic? What's the scale for?"
"Good question." Aura stood abruptly, aiming the scale at him with a charming smile. "Ash, why don't you try it yourself? It's easier than any explanation, right?"
"No, you just want to experiment on me, don't you?" Ash instinctively stepped back, warily eyeing the girl and her wolf.
"Aren't you always saying you're my big brother? If so, you'd be willing to let me test my life's work on you, right? Don't worry, I'll take good care of you. No, wait, you should be taking care of me! Time to cook!"
Recalling how he repeatedly broke their agreed rules, making her cater to him, and seizing this rare chance, Aura grew increasingly excited, as if a serf had risen to power. However...
"That makes sense, but I refuse!"
As the pink-haired loli approached, Ash's expression shifted to a grin. He preemptively raised his hand, pressing down.
A sudden surge of intense gravity coursed through Aura, twisting her expression. The scale dropped, and she nearly collapsed to her knees.
But she forced a smirk, and the injured wolf, as if receiving an invisible signal, lunged at Ash to knock him down.
In that instant, Ash's eyes snapped up.
Boom!
A shockwave erupted from his side.
Leaves scattered wildly, and the lunging wolf was flung back at less than half a meter, crashing down. The pink-haired loli three meters away was also knocked over by the shockwave, sitting stunned on the ground, staring up at him in disbelief.
"What? That shouldn't be possible! Your magic can only target one thing at a time!"
"Did you think I'm foolish enough to reveal everything to my dearest little sister?"
Breathing heavily, Ash grabbed her horn, lifting her entirely. Leaning in, he pressed his forehead against hers, his mocking smile mirroring her own. "So, how should I punish your betrayal, Aura?"
"What are you talking about, Ash? Aren't we a loving family?"
"Exactly. We're a loving family." Ash nodded lightly, then his face turned cold. "Which is why I can't forgive you so easily, right?"
"I just thought you were a bit too harsh on me daily and wanted a little revenge. It's just a cute little sister's cute whimsy!"
"Such adorable whimsy."
He shrugged dismissively, showing no further displeasure. As usual, he tugged her horn, heading toward their cave, instructing her to have the wolf drag its kin back.
Accustomed to this treatment, Aura surprisingly complied but couldn't help complaining. "At least ease up on the gravity. My pants will be ruined before we get back."
"Don't worry. I'll find you new ones. But on the way, I'll kindly greet your backside."
"You're just hoping to see me wander around bare-bottomed, aren't you? What a creep, Ash, calling yourself my big brother."
"No worries. I've realized demons only have one child at a time, so I'm just a clan brother." Ash, expressionless, dragged Aura along, unfazed by her odd remarks.
Aura tapped her chin with a slender finger, tilting her head in confusion. "By common sense, that's a weird way to put it, isn't it?"
"By demon common sense, what's not weird?"
"By demon common sense, shouldn't you just kill me?"
"Then you should praise my magnanimity."
While bantering with Aura, Ash, on the way back to the cave, glanced more at the wolf dragging its kin by its teeth than at his "dear" sister.
He was used to Aura's "cute" antics, but the wolf's alternating docility and snarling at him felt odd.
Before he could ask, the wolf suddenly lunged, knocking him down from behind and biting his neck.
Blood sprayed instantly, twisting Ash's expression.
"Hey! What are you doing? Stop it!" Aura shouted in panic.
Her intent was merely to reverse their roles, making Ash serve her, not to kill him.
But the wolf, like an unleashed beast, ignored her commands, tearing into Ash's neck.
In that tense moment, another repulsive force stirred the air.
The wolf, with flesh in its jaws, was flung over two meters high without resistance. Ash grabbed Aura, nearly thrown by the shockwave, pulling her in front of him, head up.
With a squelch, Aura's sharp horns pierced the wolf's belly as it fell, spilling blood and guts over her face, soaking her entirely.
Aura's twin horns pierced the wolf's soft belly, causing it to whimper pitifully and thrash, splattering blood.
Soon, the rogue wolf died.
Aura, weighed down by the corpse, head drooping, stared glumly at Ash after a stunned moment, sighing deeply. "Is this polite? What do you take me for?"
"I'd like to ask what you're doing." Ash, feeling blood trickle down his neck and body, retorted irritably. "Trying to become a true orphan? If I were a normal human, I'd be dead."
"You might not believe it, but this really wasn't me."
"I can tell. Your control was unstable from the start."
"Yeah, it needs work. So, can I practice on you?" Aura gave him an unprecedentedly serious look. "Don't worry, I won't really control you! And when my magic's perfected, I'll repay you properly!"
"Aura..."
"Big brother!"
Their eyes locked, a fleeting moment of sibling warmth. Aura's lips twitched upward, but...
"Keep dreaming." Ash slapped her face lightly, pushing her.
The girl, topped with the wolf corpse, lost balance and fell backward.
"Tch. No luck, huh? Your guard's too high, Ash." Lying on her back, Aura clicked her tongue, staring at the canopy, pondering whether to refine her magic or trick Ash.
Ash knew the lack of a teacher was a clear drawback for demons. Self-taught magic progressed slowly, and flaws were inevitable.
For now, he ignored it, squatting beside Aura, staring expressionlessly at the unrepentant loli. "Aura, don't you think you owe me something?"
"Almost forgot. Ash, get this corpse off my head. My neck's about to snap."
"Not that."
"You won't die from a little blood loss. Why care so much? We demons won't die without blood. We just get weaker." Aura smirked behind her hand.
To Ash, her smug look begged for a smack. His eye twitched, barely resisting the urge to enact righteous sibling justice.
Noticing his breaking point, Aura shrugged. "Alright, alright. Don't be so mad. I know I messed up. I'll do better next time and make you something tasty tonight, okay?"
"That's your apology? Your attitude's a bit off, isn't it?"
"Think about it, Ash. When my magic's perfected, we won't need to hunt. You can stay home while others cook for us."
"That does sound nice."
"So, can you get this thing off? My horns are stuck in its ribs. I can't do it myself."
Writhing on the ground, trying to free the wolf, Aura sat up, hands supporting the corpse, giving an awkward yet polite smile as she looked up at him.
Staring at the blood-soaked girl, Ash paused, then walked to another wolf corpse. "Nope. Walk back like that. Saves me some effort."
"Hey! That's too weird!"
"Kidding. But now..." He conjured a fireball in his palm, picked up a branch, burned it red-hot, and handed it to Aura. "Stop my bleeding first."
"Oh, I'm good at this! Leave it to me!"
Aura, previously dejected, sprang up with the wolf still on her head, grabbed the stick, and pressed it to his neck.
With a sizzle of searing flesh, the air filled with a burnt meat smell.
Sweating and wincing, Ash gritted his teeth. Aura let out an excited cheer. "This is great, Ash! You're shaking! I'm so thrilled my fingers are trembling!"
"You're excited, aren't you!" Her odd enthusiasm made him snap. "I told you to study healing magic, but no! You keep messing with mental stuff, so we have to torment each other every time we get hurt! Are you a masochist and a sadist?"
"No way. I don't like pain. I just love seeing you shake! It's awesome! I'm definitely not studying healing magic. This is way better!"
"You do the same when you're hurt!"
"No way! Never! That magic's too annoying. You don't even want to study it, but you want me to so you can bully me forever! I'm not that dumb! Isn't this great?"
Her unbridled excitement made his mouth twitch as he resolved to spank her when they got back.
He gave up on convincing Aura to learn healing magic. He couldn't study it himself, and she had no interest, even if it meant cauterizing wounds with a stick.
Luckily, their demon physiology meant no worry about infections.
The only concern was the blood scent attracting magical beasts or predators. Though demons, they couldn't communicate with beasts and might even attack each other, just as demons often killed their own.
In pain, with Aura's excited heavy breathing, Ash inwardly lamented the demons' wretched nature.
He refused to believe this was his fault. He was still a blank slate of a kid, probably.