As the next morning arrived, so did Helga, she'd been off scouting the rest of the forest that she could not only use to train Raven's party but also to clear up the path that led to the next kingdom. However, even if they made it out, there was fear of running into a monster tribe that inhabited the land between Athenia and the next kingdom over.
However, that was something she wasn't too worried about since she wouldn't be going there with them anyway.
"No! First, you're gonna tell us why you sold this demonic equipment to Reina!" Yelling at Helga after she'd just gathered everyone, Aria demanded an answer with her fists ready to punch her.
A bit confused by her question, Helga glanced her up and down, and although at first, she didn't notice anything, the second time over she finally recognized the gauntlets.
"Gauntlet of bloodlust…Been a while since I'd seen them," thinking back to her time in the holy war against the demon lord, she was reminded of how she used those very gloves to shatter the skulls of countless enemies.
'Murdock, how far did you foresee?' Rushed with a strange chill all over her skin, every goosebump in her body prickled up.
"Answer me!" Aria demanded again, her anger visibly getting worse by the moment.
"A god told me to pass them down, I waited for a while for someone to seem worth–"
"AGH!" Groaning in pain, Erika pulled her hands closer to her chest as everyone's eyes turned to her.
Sensing a hint of the diabolic from the priestess as well, Helga wanted to move the matter along but decided not to waste any more time than they'd done already. Shifting her attention back to Aria, she walked up close and barked right in her face.
"We used everything we got in the holy wars, and I mean everything, from the enemy's weapons, to their children as meat shields…" Grabbing Aria by the shoulders, Helga leaned into her ears and whispered so nobody else could hear. "The men raped the women to take out their frustration and the women toyed with the young. The gods? They allowed it because we were working towards their glory."
Pulling her head away, Helga took a few steps back, her eyes still glued to the stunned look on Aria's face.
"And that's why I lost my faith even more, because in battle we're no better than the enemy," to even think something like that could happen to her daughter and that they could be taken away from her, just like her husband had been, Helga couldn't allow it, and that was the very reason she left the army to fight on her own terms as a solo adventurer.
"Now," clapping her hands, Helga got everyone's attention back on her again. "You wanna know what's the best way to fight horrors? To fight them first hand and beat the ever-living shit out of them, some will be harder to do, some will be easier, but what you need to keep in mind is that you better not fucking lose."
'That's supposed to be a lesson?' Was the response in everyone's head to Helga's lecture, she might as well have said nothing at all instead of just trying to hype them up for battle.
"Okay? Okay, now follow me, and stay close, I won't lift a finger until you're about to lose yours," summoning her ice spear, she slammed it on the ground before leading the party into the corrupted forest.
Following behind her, the moment everyone stepped in, she ordered Erika to cast a holy blessing on everyone to keep the horrors from consuming their minds like last time. However, the moment Erika tried, a stabbing pain shot up through her chest. Gritting her teeth, she pretended as if nothing had happened and simply struggled until the spell was done being cast.
"D-done…" She whimpered, holding in the urge to take deep breaths that could alarm the rest of her party.
'What's happening to me?!' Panicking internally, she tried to keep up her contour even though the pain in her chest kept getting worse and worse.
"Archer, mage, do you see anything?" Calling out Mel and Raven, while also grabbing Amedith by the arm and shoving him forward with his shield, Helga stood still with her hands folded and her eyes scanning their surroundings.
"N-nothing yet?" Mel replied, but Raven decided to look more closely with his dark vision.
Looking around the area he didn't notice much at first, but then as a pair of silver eyes flickered and then quickly shut, he conjured a spear made of darkness and hurled it at the horror. Stabbing through its skin and pinning it into a tree's branch, Raven didn't want to take any chances with its survival so he even shot a basic fireball in its direction.
With an ear-piercing squeal, the horror's entire body burned to a crisp, and to even Helga's surprise, the spear didn't disappear even when the horror's body did.
"That's a start, but don't get too cocky alright?" Turning to face Mel with her hands on her hips, Helga's tone quickly changed from encouraging to severely mad. "You're a woodland elf, right? Did you not hear what I said before entering the forest? We use everything we've got! And when the cost is the life of your friends, do you really want to hold back on using your woodland magic?
Inside a forest of all places! You should be invincible here you slug!"
Caught off guard by the sudden lecture, Mel didn't know what to say. But every word from Helga's mouth rang true in everyone's ears. The ability to fly with wind magic, use the trees, the roots, and vines to her advantage, if she was just half as willing the horrors with physical attributes barely stood any chance against her abilities.
"I-I'll do better," finally replying to Helga, she looked her in the eye and nodded.
"You better, because they won't show you any mercy or hesitate to use every possible thing on your body to mangle you in body, mind, and soul," and with those words by Helga the training continued.