'Lockridge again? I also heard of Meader and Ollim names in the past, though. Hmm? Aren't those two names Wadel kingdom's and Keris Kingdom's royal household names? Damn, it seems there are more secrets hidden behind those royal families. But. What about Gilster and Howgett? Are they possibly the names of the other two kingdoms' royal names? Hmm, it is possible!' Abium muttered to himself and instantly started to search for the answer.
'Hmm, I'm sure the 'Red Bird' belongs to the Lockridge family, and I also suspect that the Lockridge are the ones who possess the [Meteorite Shower] unique spell.' In truth, he even witnessed the academic mages casting this [Meteorite Shower] spell during the final wave.
Shaking his head, Abium analyzed the information and separated them into rows and columns.
As the timer in that lady's hand moved towards number five, Abium hurriedly spoke.
"Howgett! The answer is Howgett."
Rumble!
The next instant, the runic engravings on the metallic door started to shine, and slowly the door began to disappear.
"He~he~ Your answer is correct~" A melodic voice echoed from his backside, and soon Abium saw that lady started walking near to him.
'I can't ask any questions to her. If I do, I will become affected by the strange invisible force.' Abium muttered to himself and restrained his urge to ask any other questions.
"He~he~ you don't have to be wary of me. You have already answered my question, so it's your turn~" She said with a tempting voice.
'Did she just read my mind?' Abium got startled and soon fell into deep thought.
'Any question? Although I want to ask many things about the myth behind the Bidora Empire and how I came here, I will leave that for later. I want to see if she can answer this question.' Abium curled his lips upward and asked with a cold tone.
"What is my mother's name?"
'She may know more about this lost empire's history but not about me. Even if she reads my mind, she won't find the correct answer for this question.' Abium sneered inwardly.
"Thea." But a cold yet alluring reply came from her mouth, causing Abium's mind to go blank for a few seconds. He didn't even see what was on the other side of the room nor move a muscle. At that moment, he was frozen in shock by the answer and felt overjoyed and, at the same time, confused.
'H-How did she know? Also, Thea? Where is she? Is she still alive? If so, why did she leave me in the Nature Temple's orphanage?' Abium felt countless questions whirling inside his mind. Thankfully, he calmed himself down seconds later and didn't ask any other questions.
Instead, he walked out of the room and soon realized that he had arrived at an empty meeting hall. A large circular wooden table inscribed with multiple rune letters was placed at the hall's center and looked luxurious. He also saw six throne-like large chairs designed with unique symbols on all sides.
'Even the chairs look like some legendary treasures.'
Abium also noticed six portraits of some random people attached to the walls and furrowed his brows.
'Are they some kind of bigshots of Bidora Empire?'
Each of them wore different colored dresses and looked alive.
Among the six portraits, Abium saw a single portrait at the center that appeared larger than the other five. The person in that portrait was a middle-aged man with long hair.
He wore a gem-embedded crown and had dark blue hair, pointy ears, a lean face, elongated eyebrows, and azure eyes.
He was an elf!
But Abium's face stiffened when he noticed a single palm-sized emerald gem coin in the middle-aged man's right hand.
'I-It's the same emerald coin mentioned by multiple people who visited this Creeper's forest! This middle-aged elven man must be the Emperor of this Bidora Empire.' Abium thought to himself and quickly shifted his gaze towards other portraits. All of them were middle-aged people, around 50 to 60 years old, and wore different colored robes like red, blue, yellow, white, and green.
'These guys must be the five family elders.' Abium quickly memorized everyone's face and soon noticed that the black-haired lady had long disappeared from the hall.
'Where did she go?' Abium glanced around but couldn't find a trace of her. After some thought, he shook his head and shifted his gaze towards the portraits.
No, he looked at the corner of all those portraits and soon widened his eyes as he saw a name written over there.
'By Mage Novak?' Abium blinked in surprise and quickly moved closer to one of the portraits.
The person drawn in that portrait was a blonde-haired man who wore a red-colored robe and a unique triangular hat. He had straight, long hair, round amber eyes, and thin eyebrows. At the end of that portrait, a name was engraved along with Novak's name.
"Elder of Lockridge, Godefray."
'An elder of the Lockridge Family….'
As Abium was about to move towards the next portrait, he felt a sudden electric shock from the depth of his soul and shuddered. In the next instant, his surroundings started to break like mirrors and disappear like a fog.
A moment later, Abium found himself lying at the cavern's entrance and soon sat up with a stiff face.
'Kid, allow me to copy your memories soon.' Before he could blink his eyes, Azolla's voice echoed inside his mind.
Although her voice appeared without any emotions, he strangely felt her concern.
'What happened? Why?' Abium raised his eyebrows and asked while glancing at his surroundings.
'No time to explain, kid. Quick!' As he sensed the urgency in Azolla's voice, he quickly nodded his head and let Azolla scan his memories.
Within a few seconds, Azolla replied with a serious tone.
'I copied those memories, kid. Now, get out of this place. That lady is not a normal being. Even a third-tier mage might become a puppet in front of her strange ability.'
Abium nodded his head and quickly sprinted towards the woods. At the same time, he noticed the same creepy feeling from the surroundings.
Thankfully, he noticed that the map function started to work normally and felt somewhat relieved.
After two hours of running, Abium reached the end of Creeper's Forest and stopped walking all of a sudden.
After that, he stood there with a vacant expression on his face for some time and shook his head.
Then, he looked at the surroundings and turned around towards the Creeper's Forest in confusion.
After that, he stepped forward and started walking deep into the forest.
'Where are you going, kid?' Azolla's voice echoed inside his mind.
'Hmm? Of course, I'm planning to construct my second first-tier spell.' Abium said calmly.
'Haa! My guess was right.' Azolla sighed inside his mind and continued.
"You don't need to enter this forest now. Get back to the city."
"What do you mean?" Abium became more confused by her sudden words and asked with a frown.
'Check the spell models in your mind.' Azolla said with a chuckle.
'Check the spell models? What is she talking about?'
Abium frowned even deeper and decided to check his mind.
A second later, his expression turned to stiffen up.
At that moment, he saw a large hexagonal black spell model floating next to the [Fireball] spell model inside his mind and went wide-eyed.
'H-How?!' Abium asked with a startled expression on his face.
'Wait.' Azolla said and transferred all those copied memories back to his mind. The next instant, Abium recalled what had happened inside the Creeper's forest and shivered.
'How did I lose my memories without even knowing?' Abium asked with a surprised expression.
'It's because of the black-haired ghost lady's ability, kid. I can vaguely tell that her power is similar to dreams or something. When you answered her question earlier, you suddenly fell and started sleeping. At the same time, that lady also disappeared from there, leaving me more clueless. Although your soul was still attached to your body, your consciousness had completely disappeared. After some time, I felt an emotional change in your soul and confirmed that that ghost lady must have pulled your consciousness into the Dream World.' Azolla replied with a serious voice.
'That was a dream world?' Abium knitted his eyebrows.
After all, what he experienced in that place appeared so real.
'Yes. But I don't know how that ghost lady found out your mother's name, kid.' Azolla responded.
'Haa! Once I get strong enough to defend myself from these mind-related attacks, I will return to this place and ask her myself.' Abium muttered inwardly and quickly dashed towards the Dewsummit City.
...