Taking on a Younger Brother

Despite being extremely embarrassed about the whole situation, Raiden eventually told Astoria everything about what had happened, from how he and Little Gold had first managed to trap the Foundation Establishment Realm assassins to his anger-filled shout once they had nearly killed Little Gold.

Astoria didn't rush the boy during his story. She patiently waited for him to finish, and once he did, she couldn't help but laugh.

At first, she was extremely pissed off from being shouted at, but once she realized it wasn't even directed at her, Astoria calmed down.

"If it wasn't directed toward me, then it's fine, " Astoria said magnanimously as she dropped the white sphere surrounding them. Just hand over the ring on your finger, and I'll leave." 

That ring on Raiden's finger was the very item that carried Rictoli's immortal treasure and the rest of his Soul Essence. So, while Raiden was free to go, there was no way she would let him leave with that precious treasure behind.

Besides, Raiden didn't know what it was anyway, so Astoria was confident he would hand it over without complaint. She had already killed three people who were much stronger than him in front of him. Unless the boy had a sudden brain aneurysm, he would give it to her.

But sometimes, reason didn't prevail, and fate dominated.

"Um… Senior, about that. I can't take off the ring." Raiden said with an embarrassed blush.

Astoria's face blanked.

Not believing the boy's words, Astoria used her Soul Qi to attempt to yank the ring off his finger, but no matter how hard she tugged, it didn't come off.

"Senior, I have been trying to remove this cursed thing for the past three years. However, no matter what I tried, it never came off." Raiden spoke with a downcast expression, "A close friend of mine gave it to me as a trinket before she left to study abroad. But when I went to take a bath later that day, I realized I couldn't take it off. I think she gave it to me so she could identify me in the future."

However, Astoria didn't care about the boy's words at the moment. Instead, her eyes turned cold.

That ring was the key to her future. There was not a snowflake's chance in hell that she would leave it behind just because it was attached to his hand.

Sensing something change in Astoria's eyes, Raiden wanted to say something, but before he could, Astoria acted.

Using her Soul Essence, she tugged over one of the swords from a dead Foundation Establishment Realm assassin. Then, using her esper-like powers, she sent a cleaving blow toward Raiden's ring finger, wanting to sever the thing altogether.

Horrified, Raiden wanted to dodge the incoming blow, but Astoria expected such an outcome and used her Soul Essence to detain the boy, not allowing him to budge even an inch.

Helpless, Raiden just closed his eyes in acceptance, hoping that the attack would only take a finger of his.

With his potential, regenerating a single finger would only take a few years at the minimum, but he would remember the grudge.

Clank!

Astoria didn't hold back much power in her attack. She used the full force of her Child Soul Realm soul cultivation base to hack off the finger, wanting to leave Raiden with little to no pain. But, to her astonishment, the second the sword made contact with the ring, a shield appeared around it, completely deflecting her attack and leaving only a clanking sound behind.

In fact, the clanking sound was so intense that the sword broke in half after creating contact.

Both Raiden and Astoria were gobsmacked to see this outcome. Raiden had already accepted his fate, while Astoria was getting ready to find a way to make it up to him. But no matter what their previous thoughts were, neither of them expected such an outcome.

Following the failed attempt to sever Raiden's finger, the two broken parts of the sword lightly landed on the ground, leaving the atmosphere in a weird silence.

Raiden stared at Astoria with anger in his eyes while it was her turn to look dodgy and embarrassed.

Eventually, though, she lightly coughed before speaking.

"I was going to make it up to you by giving you a cultivation technique that could allow you to reach the Heavenly Seal Realms, but now that I actually failed, I look like an asshole," Astoria spoke with a tinge of blush on her transparent face. She wanted to dig a hole to bury herself right now, and Raiden's expression didn't make her inner heart any better.

Raiden didn't respond to her words instantly but instead took a deep breath before thinking intelligently, without the anger he was feeling.

Astoria was strong, extremely so. She was so strong that the assassins who had taken every single one of his schemes and plans head-on and still managed to bring him and Little Gold to the verge of death didn't even get to lay a hand on her.

Moreover, while she was acting, very natural now, and even speaking to him on equal grounds, he had already seen the girl kill three people without blinking.

This wasn't a normal spirit, who could be defined by common sense.

Her emotions could flip-flop between calm and angry at the tip of a hat, and from how easily she resorted to killing those assassins, Raiden was sure that angering her at this point would do nothing but spell his demise.

After his deep breath and quick analytic thoughts, Raiden calmed himself down and responded to her, "Senior, may I please leave now? My enemy will surely notice the deaths of his subordinates, and staying here any longer will potentially kill me."

Astoria was about to nod, but then she realized a potential idea.

Why not follow the boy?

She could stay inside the ring and even act as a sort of ring teacher.

Wait.

Astoria went a further step back, and suddenly, everything clicked in her mind.

He had a ring that couldn't be removed with an immortal treasure.

He was a top-tier talisman genius capable of trapping people three cultivation realms above him.

A mysterious childhood sweetheart who gave this kid Rictoli's ring, something that was supposed to be hidden in the Heavenly Martial Domain.

The immortal spirit beast that followed him with blind loyalty.

So many things started to click in Astoria's eyes.

Wasn't this boy a cookie-cutter protagonist template?!

Adding on herself and Rictoli's inheritance, wasn't it more than possible to turn this kid into a powerhouse?

Astoria's eyes started to gleam with greed once she reached this point, and she decided.

'I'll follow this brat and make him into my own protagonist!' 

Ambitino flooded her mind. Astoria was on cloud nine for a second but didn't lose the plot.

She wanted to follow this kid for now, but she couldn't look desperate, so she started acting.

Nodding her head, Astoria allowed the boy to leave.

Raiden cupped his fists in thanks before turning around and sprinting off. However, to his confusion, Astoria floated a bit over with every step he took.

Step, step, step. Raiden initially thought he was seeing things, but he wasn't. Astoria would float a bit over as if matching his pace.

Naturally, as a genius, it didn't take Raiden long to realize what exactly was happening.

Pointing at the ring on his finger, Raiden asked, "You're bound to this ring, aren't you?"

Astoria obviously wasn't, but since she was playing a role now, there was no way she could say no. So, pretending to be embarrassed about the situation, Astoria shyly nodded.

It was Raiden's face that blanked this time.

'I'm going to be stuck with this demoness??'

Chills enveloped Raiden's body as he reeled from the very possibility.

Taking advantage of the moment, as if to prove her words, Astoria's transparent body flickered for a moment before turning into a flash of light that flew into the ring and disappeared completely.

"This was why I wanted to take the ring from you at any cost. How could I be bound to a mortal boy with little talent? It would ruin my reputation as an expert of the Heavenly Martial Domain if I did." Astoria spoke from the inside of the ring.

Since only Raiden's voice could enter the ring, Astoria assumed that hers could leave it. Luckily, she was right.

Her calm voice traveled from inside the ring directly into Raiden's mind, which was still frozen in disbelief.

Thankfully, Raiden was a young man with a decisive personality.

Seeing that fate had dealt him this hand, he gritted his teeth and decided to play with it. It was no use grumbling about a situation that couldn't be changed.

Sighing out of resignation, Raiden decided to create an icebreaker.

"Senior, this youth's name is Raiden. May I also know how to address you?" Raiden asked with a humble attitude.

Even though he was probably bound to Astoria for the time being, he didn't forget how easily she killed the powerhouses that made him and Little Gold so desperate earlier. So, Raiden acted polite and humble.

Astoria considered whether she wanted Raiden to call her something special inside the ring but eventually gave up.

After a moment of reflection, Astoria said, "My name is Astoria, but just call me big sister. I'm not much older than you, and calling me senior makes me feel like a grandma."

From all the novels she had either written or read, Astoria knew that power meant everything in a cultivation world and that he should call her senior since she was much stronger than Raiden. But Astoria wasn't a stickler for set rules and didn't care much.

Plus, allowing him to call her big sister rather than senior could make their relationship closer. It was a good idea with little downside, and Astoria stuck to it.

Raiden was an opportunist by nature and hastily took her offer with glee. It also hurt him a bit to call Astoria, a girl who barely looked any older than him, a senior. He had only called her senior because he was slightly scared of her, but since Astoria had already spoken, he accepted.

"Then I'll call you big sister." Raiden nodded. After hearing Astoria's "situation," most of his anger at Astoria for nearly cleaving off his finger had dissipated. Any person of Astoria's caliber would've done the same. Perhaps if he were in her situation, he would've too.

After all, if he were of Astoria's strength and somehow forcibly bound to a random mortal village boy, why wouldn't he attempt to break free? Maybe he wouldn't have been so drastic like Astoria, this witch, but it wouldn't have been too different.

As for the grudge, Raiden didn't lose anything in her attempt to sever his finger. Instead, he managed to gain a powerful expert from a distant domain.

He would only be a fool to remember that minor grudge and stay cold and distant.

However, he soon remembered something, or rather, someone.

"Little Gold!"

Panicked, Raiden quickly bolted over to where Little Gold was, hoping to see some sign of life in his companion. Raiden would've died long ago if it weren't for the little tortoise. He owed it to the tortoise to help him.

Reaching the tree where Little Gold was blasted, Raiden quickly found the palm-sized tortoise thanks to its bright gold shell. Buried under a large amount of roots and bark, Little Gold was alive but severely injured.

"Big sister, can you help me dig Little Gold out? He's too injured to dig himself out." Raiden asked in his mind.

Raiden had barely absorbed any Vital Energy yet. He was even inferior to some full-grown, strong mortal men. 

So, while he could dig out the tortoise, it would take far too long, and by then, Little Gold's injuries might have worsened even more.

The request wasn't much at all for Astoria. Not even bothering to exit the ring, Astoria used a massive amount of Soul Essence to levitate the massive pile of foliage that was burying Little Gold.

Soon, with Astoria's help, Raiden was able to reach and pull out Little Gold.

However, once he did, Raiden realized that his partner's condition was much worse than he had thought.

Little Gold's soul was already in tatters from the backlash of having their enemies forcibly break his innate divine ability. Moreover, despite his immobilizing pain, he still had a strong enough will to regain some clarity and defend Raiden, only to get blasted a dozen meters away into a tree.

Now, not only was he barely conscious because of the mental torture, but even his physical body was on the verge of collapse. If not for his extremely noble bloodline that gave him powers beyond his realm, Little Gold would've long died.

However, just because he wasn't instantly killed didn't mean that the injuries he suffered weren't life-threatening.

Astoria's vision wasn't that good as she lived her entire life on Earth, a place where even a paper cut could kill. So it was her first time seeing such gruesome injuries on someone who was somehow still alive.

Thankfully, she had Rictoli's large amount of practical experience occupying the second half of her mind. Using that as a reference, she was able to gather some things from Little Gold's current state.

"Raiden, this turtle-"

"He's a tortoise!" Raiden angrily interrupted out of habit. 

Stunned, Astoria froze for a moment at his sudden outburst.

Quickly composing himself, Raiden apologized and let Astoria continue.

"Raiden, this tortoise needs medical treatment. How about this? I'll take him into the ring to examine him closer while you make your way home," Astoria offered after a moment of thought.

Since Astoria had already gambled her future on Raiden, why not double down? Since Little Gold was unconscious, even if she had brought him inside the ring, he wouldn't be able to see what was going on.

Of course, with this sentence, Astoria inadvertently exposed the fact that the ring could also hold living creatures, but Raiden was smart. He probably already guessed that, so Astoria was fine with bringing the turtle inside the ring. 

Also, as Raiden's backer and Goldfinger, Astoria's job was to protect him until he grew up enough to do the opposite. How could she be a good dharma protector without the ability to teleport him suddenly?

The ring's abilities were bound to be exposed to him eventually. Whether it was sooner or later didn't matter.

Raiden was slightly shocked that Astoria would offer to bring Little Gold inside the ring, but he quickly nodded in response.

"Please take care of Little Gold, big sis." Raiden humbly asked.

Astoria assured Raiden before disappearing into the ring, bringing the tortoise inside with him.

"However, you have to hurry and leave. Your mortal enemy might notice the death of his subordinates soon. It'd be better to leave this area before he does." Astoria said, bringing Raiden out of his stupor.

Stunned, Raiden turned serious for a moment before quickly leaving the area. However, before he left, he didn't forget to loot the three assassins. He was dirt broke, after all. How could he leave three large pieces of loot rot in the forest?

It went against his conscience to leave so much wealth lying around to rot.

Astoria noticed this, but what did she care? She was a ghost, and money didn't help her.

The child looted the three bodies with a concerning amount of speed, and before Astoria even realized it, they were off to Raiden's current home.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Every little thing helps - https://ko-fi.com/slarbi123.

There is now a discord for this novel. However, be warned. It is rather bare bones. I suck at Discord. The link is in the synopsis.

Also, if you like this novel, you can check out my others!