Iain was still ringing with himself. Rationally he had already recognized that he won't be able to avoid fighting in the future. But emotionally it was difficult to convince himself.
While conflicting thoughts occupied his mind, the young man suddenly saw his sister stepping forward. He was shocked when he noticed the determination on Lilly's face. For the shortest moment he even thought he saw a hint of excitement in her eyes.
Reacting instinctively, Iain also stepped forward. He reached out his hand and put it on Lilly's shoulder.
"Lilly? You… Let me do it!"
The young woman turned around. Although she couldn't make out any details on Iain's face, she could easily imagine his expression.
She smiled lightly as she remembered the safety her brother had always brought her. As siblings they were always there for each other, braving any difficulties.
Lilly took a deep breath as she firmly grabbed her brother's wrist. She gently removed his arm before she answered with conviction:
"We might not like it, but we don't have a choice. We won't be able to escape conflict.
So, let's advance one step at a time. There is nothing we can't overcome as long as we support each other!"
Listening to his sister's words, Iain grit his teeth. Apparently, Lily had an easier time adapting her mindset. The young man could feel Lilly's conviction.
However, he knew that she was right. Iain subconsciously didn't want to accept it, but it was more than obvious that their parents were involved in some form of violent conflict.
Although Iain loved his family above all he just realized that he did indeed blame his parents somewhat for dragging them into a war.
Feeling such thoughts coming up, Iain suddenly shook his head. He knew their parents did everything they could to provide them with a normal live.
Noticing Iain's silence, Lilly knew her brother was still struggling. She focused on his eyes while she firmly encouraged him:
"Come. Let's do this together. We will both go at the same time!"
Iain let out a deep sigh. He imagined throwing out his worries with it. Then he finally nodded.
Groob shook his head as he looked at the sibling's backs. As someone who grew up in this society he was constantly bombarded by news of some villages or cities being destroyed.
Day after day soldiers would use their lives to hold back the Malohcras. Artificial diseases and assassinations spread throughout humanity. Everyone dreamt of gaining strength to feel at least some security in this universe.
Therefore, the adventurer could hardly understand the sibling's struggle. He could only attribute their weak mindsets to the Malo Disease. He remembered his own Nephew, who was tied to bed, never allowed to understand the world around him.
Remembering the young boys bright smile, Groob angrily balled his fist. He took a deep breath before he assigned his team members:
"Voro, you observe Iain. Make sure he doesn't receive any serious injuries. Uramant, you do the same for Lilly. Forgoz, please coach Lilly in swordsmanship."
None of these tasks were difficult for the experienced adventurers. They lightly nodded and followed behind the siblings, while Groob went towards Iain's side.
Lilly and Iain each choose one red thorn to fight.
Firmly holding her sword, Lilly observed the beast before her. The red thorn already felt danger as it threateningly waved its tale from left to right.
Some deep growls left its mouth while its red eyes never left Lilly. Interestingly, it really didn't attack as long as no one entered its territory.
Lilly cleverly used this characteristic to imprint the red thorn's body into her mind. She knew it was important to know her enemy.
At this moment a voice reached her.
"Don't be nervous. You can definitely defeat this beast. Just be confident. Confidence is the key in close range combat."
In another situation Lilly would be surprised that Forgoz was able to talk for so long. It was good to know, however, that the taciturn swordman took his job seriously.
Noticing a slight change in Lilly's posture, Forgoz nodded his head. The young woman quickly implemented his advice.
"Raise the tip of your sword slightly. Beast fur can be harder than it looks. If you aren't prepared it might deflect your strike. Only a solid hit will cut deeply."
Lilly diligently listened to Forgoz' advice. She kept adjusting her posture and burning every detail into her mind. A few minutes later Forgoz was finally satisfied.
"Ok now you look like a swordsman. If you are ready, face the beast."
Despite her lack of fighting experience, Lilly felt her nervousness had already left her. A serious expression appeared on her face. Deep in her mind a little bit of excitement might even exist.
The young woman focused on the red thorn's eyes as she firmly took a few steps forward.
As soon as she entered the area this beast considered its territory, the red thorn fletched its teeth. It scraped the ground.
Lilly took another step forward. Only a few meters separated human and beast.
Suddenly the red thorn's strong leg muscles constricted. The beast heavily stomped the ground before jumping up.
A single push allowed the beast to close the distance. Lilly and the red thorn were almost eye to eye.
The beast's maw opened wide as it aimed for Lilly's throat. It wanted to eliminate its prey in one move.
A foul stench assaulted Lilly's face. The beasts' hungry eyes focused on her. She almost felt like she could read its mind. The red thorn considered her as a delicacy.
Although the ferocious jump intimidated her, Lilly quickly remembered Forgoz' teachings.
Instead of taking a step back, Lilly advanced.
The young woman let out a low shout as she swung her sword upwards. Her feet burrowed into the ground as she put all her weight into this strike.
The sword slashed through the air.
Suddenly Lilly felt her hand hurt as the sword buried into the beast's shoulder.
The red thorn never thought it's prey would dare to face it. As the sharp sword cut into its flesh it let out a pained roar.
However, Lilly also wasn't prepared for this impact. The heavy weight violently pushed her backwards. Just as she managed to stabilize herself a spiked tail slashed at her.
A burning feeling spread through her body. The leather armor she was wearing managed to stop some spikes, but the heavy hit still drew blood.
Lilly's eyes bulged from the unknown feeling. Her brain seemingly short circuited as adrenaline shot through her body.
With Lilly's level of experience, she wasn't good at controlling herself yet. Her body had to decide between flight or fight.
Instinctively it chose fight.
Lilly ignored her injury as her hand held onto the sword for dear life. She violently ripped it out of the beast's shoulder.
Blood ran down the red thorn's fur. While the beast hesitated for a second, Lilly stabbed forward with her sword.
Their roles seemingly reversed as Lilly aimed for the beast's throat.
The red thorn tried to jump to the side. In it's panic however, it put too much weight on its injured leg.
Pain radiated through the beast's body as its leg awkwardly bent to the side.
Lilly wasn't fast enough to react. Her sword slashed into the beast's neck because of its weird posture.
The young woman hastily tried to pull her sword back, but she quickly realized it was stuck.
Almost on its last breath the red thorn gathered its will to survive.
Suddenly Lilly panicked as a low noise appeared to her side. She turned her head and noticed a deadly tail approaching her face.
Lilly seemed to see her life flash before her eyes. Her precious family smiled at her while she stared death in the eye. Suddenly the pictures changed, and she recognized the fateful scene in their village.
She remembered as the monster stomped on a human head right in front of her. The noise of a head bursting open turned strangely vivid for her. Suddenly she realized that the same fate might befall her.
Lilly grit her teeth. She vowed to never let something like this happen.
The young woman didn't notice the ice that formed between her and the beast's tail.
She let go of the sword and threw her body on the ground.
The ice vanished as abruptly as it appeared.
Lilly meanwhile rolled to the side.
Loud crunching could be heard as she crushed the Icestalk.
Despair now appeared in the beast's eyes. It recognized that its end was coming. Even its last desperate strike couldn't take the human down.
The red thorn had difficulty even standing upright, but Lilly was too tense to notice.
Without her sword Lilly could only kill the beast with magic.
Over the past few days Lilly had already devoured many books about magic.
Now in this life and death situation she instinctively used the one that seemed natural to her.
Lilly used her full focus to gather mana and form runes in record speed. Uramant raised his eyebrow when he felt the movement. The experienced mage knew that Lilly was lucky the beast was terribly injured or it wouldn't give Lilly the time to form her spell.
The young woman however didn't consider anything. She let go of all distracting thoughts.
She instantly gathered mana, formed runes, and provided the spark.
Suddenly a black ray shot out from her hand.
Uramant drew a sharp breath as he recognized this magic. Who would have thought that the friendly healer would use death magic in a desperate situation.
The mercenaries watched in appreciation as the dark ray hit the wounded beast.
It didn't create any heavy impact.
The dark ray was seemingly absorbed by the red thorn. The nearly dying beast didn't understand what happened as its eyes gently closed.
Finally, the red thorn dropped to the side. It had died.
The dark ray hadn't caused any big injuries or much pain. It simply extinguished the bit of remaining lifeforce the beast had left.