As a loud ringing echoed through the living room, both siblings stopped what they were doing. They focused their mind for a few seconds before nervously approaching the door.
As soon as they opened it, blinding light greeted them. They couldn't even make out the silhouette of their visitor, as they reflexively closed their eyes.
Iain could already imagine the judging look on the adventurers' face. His body stiffened until Lilly forcefully put the shaded glasses normally hanging next to the door on his face.
A deep but friendly voice greeted them as they finally observed the man in front of their door.
Looking him up and down, the pair of siblings first noticed his perfectly, almost blindingly bald head. His skin was slightly toned, his eyes brown. He had a burly build but lost out to Iain in height.
His leathern clothes didn't look special at first glance, but they were fabricated from the same material as Lilly's boots. Only a single decoration adorned the black leather. On his right chest a simple red circle surrounded the letters EFM.
"So you are Lilly and Iain? Nice to meet you. My name is Groob."
Lilly's hand disappeared in Groob's as she shook his massive, outstretched paws.
"Yes, I'm Lilly. Thank you for taking care of us."
"I'm Iain."
Groob's eyes held some appreciation when he grabbed Iain's hand. It wasn't common to find someone with a hand bigger than his own.
"Haha. You surely have an impressive build boy!"
The young smith answered with a happy smile on his face.
"Of course. My…"
Lilly already anticipated her brothers' response. When others praised his build, he would always gleefully point out, that he inherited it from his father. After a few years of being teased by the aunties in their village, the young man did this almost instinctively.
However, Nua had naturally prepared a backstory for them. They were supposed to be orphans Nua took in when she thought about training a successor. Who could have thought that they would catch a strange disease, basically tying them to bed.
Fortunately, the benevolent smith never gave up on them. Despite their delayed growth they managed to become healthy adults.
Following such a story, they naturally couldn't talk about their parents. Therefore, the quick-witted Lilly suddenly let out a suppressed laughter as she patted Iain's shoulder.
Both men turned their heads towards her in confusion. Groob looked around for a second before asking:
"Did we do something funny?"
Theatrically wiping a tear from her eye, Lilly answered with a smile:
"I'm sorry. I was just happy that someone could praise my brother. You might know we had Malo Disease until a while ago, so it feels nice to receive something besides pity for once."
[Acquired Acting Lv. 1]
The young woman was surprised by the notification she suddenly received. Luckily her diversion seemed to have worked, as Lilly noticed how Groob grit his teeth at the mention of Malo Disease.
"I'm glad you made it through. Not everyone is this lucky."
Lilly felt the anger in Groob's voice as she fell silent. Malo Disease was a special illness targeting only young humans. It wasn't a natural occurrence, however.
Nua had explained to them that Malo Disease was a weapon spread by their enemies, the Malohcras.
Those insidious monsters used many different tactics while the large-scale war was at a stalemate.
"I'm sorry if I hit a sore spot."
"No. Don't be sorry for your survival. Just live a good life."
"We… will remember your advice."
Suddenly they felt it difficult to continue their conversation. Iain smiled wryly. This certainly wasn't a good start to their training.
Not sure how to continue, the young smith tried to carry on somehow:
"So, Mister Groob, do you want to come in? We have some Frozen Shock."
The burly man chuckled slightly as the observed Iain's uncomfortable expression.
"I'm alright, kid. Let's not waste time now. Nua asked me not to hold back. We only have two months to teach you how to survive on this two-faced planet."
Lilly's ears pricked up, when Groob talked about the former owner of this house. Despite doing her best to prepare for the siblings' arrival, the old woman never let any information about herself slip in.
The young redhead was naturally curious about this mysterious woman. Unfortunately, Groob didn't talk more about her, as Iain followed with his own question:
"So, what should we do? Are you teaching us to fight?"
"Later, kid. We have to start with the basics you need on this planet. Heat resistance and cold resistance."
Noticing the slightly relieved look on Iian's face, Groob furrowed his eyebrows. Nua told him to put those siblings though high intensity training those next two months. He really hoped they wouldn't chicken out during combat.
"Well, I hope you are ready. Let's go, we can talk on the way!"
Following those words Groob turned around and strode off. Surrendering to their fate, the two siblings told themselves to make the best of their situation, before hurrying after Groob.
The seasoned adventurer deliberately slowed down as he realized how Lilly and Iain observed the city around them as if everything was new to them. He suddenly remembered his own nephew, who was bound to bed until succumbing to the Malo Disease.
Despite receiving some strange gazes from passersby, Lilly and Iain couldn't hold their curiosity in check. Walking on the metallic street, they first noticed the massive metal pillars holding up floating panels.
All they knew was those produced the energy for the city of Iomor's Grace.
Those novel sights and towering buildings overwhelmed them, who only knew the world of their small village until a day ago.
Fast traveling vehicles zipped above their heads, while a lot of people walked along the streets.
On both sides were all kinds of stores selling everything from daily necessities to magical materials or weapons.
While many people around them wore similar clothes to them, the pair of siblings also recognized the obvious attires of warriors in heavy equipment.
Suddenly the crowd parted as a group of people rode by them on fierce looking beasts. Lilly and Iain both felt shocked as they observed those beasts up close.
Although they didn't radiate the same ferocity as the Malohcras attacking their village, this situation still felt unreal to Lilly and Iain. Only now did the realization slowly settle in, that beasts and monsters weren't some creatures from fairytales.
The pair of siblings could visibly imagine how the sharp claws and dangerous teeth of those wolf-like beasts could tear a human apart.
Only when Lilly remembered that those beasts would die from a single word of their mother, could a slight smile form on her face.
As the beast-riding group came near them, Iain and Lilly got pulled to the side by Groob. The passerby around them also cleared a path like it was the most natural thing to do. Iain even overheard the group next to them mumble a few words: "Praised be the God of Light!"
Only after the white-robed group left, did Groob carefully tell them:
"Those were soldiers from the Luminous Army. It's best to stay away from them. While their ice-treading wolfs might look dangerous, these soldiers are the real killers!"
Lilly and Iain showed their understanding before Groob led them into a smaller building at the side. A big crowd came and went from this building.
As the pair of siblings looked around, they saw big letters attached to the wall. Suddenly they realized something fascinating: They were able to read the language here.
They didn't think about it until now. Since Nua prepared books for them at home, she naturally wrote them in Earth's language. Only now did they think about how they conversed with Groob. Strangely it seemed that the language spoken on Earth was universally used among humans.
Groob didn't pick up on their confusion, so he simply led them into the building called Escari Street Station.
Iain and Lilly suddenly found themselves in an extremely busy environment. The crowd around them hurried along, separately approaching different walls. Some people went to the side to buy some simple food.
Parents pulled their children along, while others carried all kinds of materials with them.
It felt like entering another world to the pair of siblings. Until now they could still calmly observe the unknown city, but in this hectic place they felt truly lost.
Luckily Groob noticed their uneasiness. He slowly led them to the side before showing an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry. You probably never used the city's transray network."
Lilly and Iain simply shook their head, not daring to ask what a transray network was.
"It's ok. You'll get used to it. Although it might be stressful, this is still the easiest way to get around town for most of us."
Lilly took a deep breath to gather her bearings. Since they seemed to have time, she was happy to start a conversation:
"We are fine. Thanks for your concern."
"Ah, don't mention it."
"But, Groob, don't you think it is time to tell us where we are going?"