"Mama! Wake up!" Umi"s sorrowful cry echoed inside that large house.Abium walked ahead and inspected Umi"s mother"s body health and observed there were bruises all over the body. A few crystals like tears emerged from both of her eyes, even in that unconscious state.
Meanwhile, Crown prince didn"t hesitate to take out another healing potion and poured into that lady"s mouth. Although prince Raollet attempted to stop him, the Crown prince didn"t listen. The bruises on her body gradually began to fade, but Abium saw that her spirit didn"t recover a bit. No, the soul slowly withering away!
He didn"t understand what to do next and attempted to remember some ideas that could heal her spirit. But no thought appeared in his mind in this situation.
While he recalls any medicine that might improve one"s spirit, he thought of that Maze near this town. He came here to this town for examining that Maze and also intend on exploring inside that Maze later. In the past, a few explorers investigated that Maze and found that Maze connected to a Pocket Dimension. So, Abium planned to enter that pocket dimension later.
That Pocket dimension carries untold secrets. In the past, the explorers who finally got out of that Maze climbed to become influential figures. Every one of them received some artifacts or some unique techniques which made even royalties to envy. But there was one piece of information specified in that book written by an explorer lingered in his mind.
A wish! He wrote about the final task, and for completing that reward, it was a wish. That pocket Dimension"s owner would fulfill that wish. That explorer didn"t mention in detail, but he stated it was a difficult task, which caused three deaths in their team, so they finally give up in the end. Later explorers came out, that Maze, along with the pocket dimension, disappeared from there, leaving no trace behind. Instantly Abium resolves to enter the Maze at all costs.
He initially planned to enter that Maze along with Helena after a few months after saving her sister. But now he had no option but to adjust that plan for this child"s mother. Abium didn"t want to see a child losing her mother. If he didn"t save her, he knew he would despise himself for the rest of the life.
First, he had to split up from the group and act alone. If princes came along with him, then he won"t be able to finish that task for that wish. After made up his mind, Abium gestured Crown prince to pick Umi while he carried her mom and stepped inside the warehouse. Nicolaus, who keeps following them, began speaking.
"H-How did you know this hidden exit? Only my family members knew about this way."
"Don"t be shocked. Even Young prince Raollet knew this route."
Meanwhile, Raollet also startled a little and nodded in approval.
"Humph. Don"t think my dad won"t think you will use this hidden pathway! He will be expecting there at the end of this way to butcher you all!"
Abium smirked at him and walked ahead without minding his shouting. What Nicolaus stated might come true if it was Margrave or others but not Tibbott.
Abium didn"t intend to disclose anything to the Nicolaus and stepped into that room. It"s a small room which used for stockpiling rations and weapons. Once they moved inside that room, Abium shifted his gaze towards Nicolaus and spoke.
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"It"s time to do your duty, Nicolaus."
"Yes, yes. Do I have an option to refuse?"
Nicolaus grunted himself and stepped forth towards shelve. He picked up a tiny knife around the corner then delivered a small cut on his forefinger. A drop of blood appeared from his finger. Nicolaus let that drip fell on to the ground, near that shelve. A magic circle appeared on the area and gradually faded. The ground began to tremble a little, and in front of that shelve, it began to split open. A way developed on their vision, which appears more like an underground way.
"There are too many underground tunnels everywhere. Well, I guess they build this for emergency purpose." Abium a.n.a.lyzed that way and glanced around. There were no lamps inside, so crown prince lit a torch, which he took it out from his ring and marched forward.
Once everyone entered that way, immediately, that pa.s.sage locked itself. In the past, Nicolaus disclosed about this pa.s.sage to Abium and other adventurers. Otherwise, it would be another challenging problem. Drops of water hit on his face. The route appears as a cave-like structure and a narrow path. It didn"t take them long to reach the end of that pa.s.sage.
After an hour of their trek inside that pa.s.sage, they finally noticed path appeared ahead of them. Northern breeze directly arose from the opposite side of the entrance gate.
All of them rushed forth and found themselves a few kilometers apart from the town near the mountain range. This mountain range originates from this Bare keep town and extends ahead till count Hernicus territory.
Abium quickly looked around and saw a large mountain. Without spending any time, he considered moving towards that direction. That was the mountain of perished, where that Maze emerged a few decades ago.
Abium learned from a book about that Maze. At first, everyone got interested, and many mages and n.o.bles showed curiosity in that Maze. But once people who adventure inside that Maze sometimes disappear and never appeared again made everyone alarmed.
Nicolaus"s childhood companion also went into this Maze and never came back. Because of that reason, he continuously studies about this Maze and invited many explorers to bring back his friend. Well, no one would go on such a reckless mission, even if he provides them many rewards. But that changed when an explorers" team came from the northern region to the Royal capital seeking for an herb. Nicolaus requested them and showed his investigations and begged for their help. That mission turned those explorers" life upside down. Well, that didn"t matter because this time, Abium intends to take those rewards for himself.
"Why not we go to the royal capital and request the bishop to treat her?"
Suddenly crown prince interjected his thought and suggested.
"Your Highness! In Royal capital, only light G.o.d followers are residing there. They won"t treat beast kin even if they are in this condition. Some may try to kill her once they saw her. There are other churches outside the royal capital, but I don"t believe there are any bishops or high priest level person serving there."
Abium shook his head and answered. In the capital, Light G.o.d members were the majority. So it would be no good to bring beast kin inside the church. Abium thought of something and slowly began to speak.
"I have a method to heal her. But it is going to be a dangerous task, and even a single slip may cost one"s life. So, your Highness, if you desire to withdraw from here, now is the only opportunity!"
Crown prince started to ponder for a second, but Young prince Raollet instantly replied.
"Excuse me! My brother and I will not be able to accompany you on this task. You appear to know more about this place than any other. And I didn"t trust you enough to put my life in your hand. Also, if we lingered here, others might capture us later. Sorry buddy, we need to get out here as quickly as possible." Raollet with an apologetic expression on his face. This time Abium found the prince"s character itself changed to his original. These saw no sign of Hemarc"s character at all.
"What about Nicolaus? Your Highness!" Abium asked in an urging because he needs his a.s.sistant to enter that Maze.
"I don"t care about him. We will be on our way from now on. Let"s go, brother."
Raollet pressed the crown prince to come along with him; meanwhile, crown prince gawked dumbly at his younger brother. After a few moments, he recovered his senses. Abium also startled by the response and relieved inside.
"Wow! I didn"t antic.i.p.ate the young prince already wary of me. After this, I must stay away from him at all costs." A few drops of cold sweats appeared on Abium"s back.
"Forgive me for not accompanying you. But I believe we have to part away from here. I won"t be able to walk away without giving any compensation for a.s.sisting my brother and me at that time. Take this and join us at the royal gathering. We also have to report this incident to Mages."
Crown prince took out a badge with a royal symbol on it, and an extra pouch then tossed it towards Abium.
Abium caught that pouch and appreciated both of the princes then walked away. On the other side, Princes departed away from the group and walked towards the royal capital city direction.
Abium didn"t bother too much about their safety because he knew once they crossed Baron"s territory, they would able to use their teleportation scroll. But what made him felt terrified was the invitation to the royal gathering. It still takes at least a month for that, but he was scared of that end of the royal king event. He took a deep breath to calm himself and spoke.
"Nicolaus! I understood you resent me for betraying your trust, but after we achieved that task will go on our separate ways."
Nicolaus clicked his tongue and stayed silent and followed him behind.
"Where are we going?" suddenly, Nicolaus found themselves walking towards Maze and abruptly got interested.
"Are you curious? I will tell you then. We are going to investigate that Maze!"
"So, your purpose is that Maze from the very beginning. How do you know that I won"t take this child as a hostage and run away from here?"
"Then you will never know what happens to your childhood friend."
Nicolaus abruptly froze on the spot and widened his eyes. Nicolaus didn"t care much about diplomacies or anything. His only purpose from the childhood days was to discover a hint about what happened to his childhood friend.
Umi always stayed quiet by his side and didn"t talk. It didn"t take them for a few moments to reach near that Maze. A cave was visible on their sight. If someone entered that cave without any prior knowledge, they would only found puzzle pathways. And if they begin roaming inside that path, they would eventually find themselves back to the entrance of the cave.
Sometimes it would take days to return from that Maze to the entrance. Still, there were times some people vanished without even a trace once they entered inside the Maze. Because of that reason, locals further named this mountain as the mountain of perished.
Abium remembered a story from those explorers about how they entered that pocket dimension. One must have to a.s.semble a few rare types of red gems that appeared inside that Maze. After picking up those twelve gems, they had to set that gems on the stones near the altar.
"Once we enter the Maze, we will have to seek for 12 red gems inside that Maze. After discovering those gems, we will have to move to the altar room inside that Maze. Don"t think it is easy to find those gems. Even after two days, we may still find it difficult to collect."
"Two days!" Nicolaus answered in an alarm tone while Umi tilted her head in puzzlement.
"Ugh, I will tell you honestly. I believe inside this Maze; time seems to flow abnormally. That is the reason I said it might take time. I don"t know even that is real or fake."
Suddenly Nicolaus"s eyes grew and asked hurriedly.
"Is it possible a person went inside this maze a few years back may still be stuck in that time anomaly and may get back?"
"I don"t know Nicolaus, but it"s difficult to tell. If they prisoned inside something like time crystal, it might be possible."
"It may be possible if his friend confined like that creature inside the time crystal in a forgotten land. If that was appearing again."
He quickly dismissed that thought and turned his gaze towards the other two.
"Wow! beautiful!" A mutter came from Umi"s mouth and saw what happened. A light arrived on their faces, which made him finally relaxed. That long night finally ended.
Nicolaus and Umi got ready to explore. Abium carrying Umi"s mom on his hand and stepped forward inside that Maze while, both Nicolaus and Umi slowly followed after.
Once entered that Maze, the group went onward and at the same time, sought for the red gem. A few ways divided in a different direction from time to time, and Abium picked a random pathway and advanced.
After they searched for all the way repeatedly, they felt like circled in a loop. It took nearly thirteen hours to collect all those gems. Everyone was already drained and fatigued by continues walk and puzzles. They came across that altar room a few times, but they didn"t have sufficient gems to enter inside. So they remained to search for hours. The problem was once someone went inside that Altar room, they would immediately teleport outside that Maze.
Within few minutes after they found that last gem, they stood before the altar. Because of that twelve gems, they finally able to get a clear view of that altar. No one was able to access this room till now because if someone arrived inside, they would teleport the next second to the outside.
, Surrounding that altar, Abium saw there were twelve stones around a meter tall placed there. On top of that, he saw a small iron pot. It was the first time Abium came to this place. But with the guidance of the notes he read from those explorers, Abium set the gems at the pots. Once he put all the gems on those stones instantly, all the gems began to crack and shattered into dust. Then a portal emerged at the heart of that room.