Meanwhile, Abium was in the middle of applying medicinal herbs to Nicolaus's wounded area and tying it with a white cloth.
After he tied the final knot, he turned his gaze towards Umi's mother and spoke calmly.
"I don't want to see a child losing her mother, My Lady." He deliberated for a second and decided to change the topic.
"What's your name?"
Meanwhile, Umi's mother gave a surprised look and introduced herself.
"I'm Fennelis. We came here to search for my husband's whereabouts but got kidnapped in the middle of the night. It must be the Inn owner's work. If I hadn't got drugged by that bastard, I would have killed all of them on the spot." Fennelis clenched her fist as she said those words before bowing her head.
"Thank you for your help, young man. If not for your help, we both might have long died in the slum!"
She thanked Abium with the utmost respect.
On the other hand, Abium got stunned by her words and started smiling.
With the information he knew about Beastkins, he knew that they would never bow their heads to anyone other than high-ranked Beastkins with pure bloodlines.
Moreover, Abium never imagined that she would bow towards a half-elf!
In truth, Beastkins despised Elves more than humans. Although Humans enslaved Beastkins and even killed them, Elves did something more than that, which led to the decline of the whole race.
Indeed, the Beastkins hated Elves and the Elven Gods and were still holding grudges against the world itself.
Abium sighed in pity as he thought of the long-forgotten history.
Others may have forgotten much about the war, but not the Beastkins.
When the Beast Gods were battling the Evil Gods during the Ancient War, Elven Gods didn't help them during the crucial time and even allied with Foreign Gods to stab them in the back!
That incident made all those Beast tribes lose their trust in elves. When the four Beast Gods realized that they were going to die, they used every part of their divine powers, split their blood essence, and gave the future generations hope in the form of Bloodline power.
'Alas, another trouble came in the name of religion.'
Later, a foreign god targeted the Beastkins and began to spread hate in the name of religion.
That's how the Light Church came into existence in the Easica World. He even wrote books about them and boldly labeled them as evil beings.
No one knew why he did that, but his action caused changes. Day and night, the religious fanatics hunted the Beastkins and caused chaos everywhere. If not for Mother Goddess's intervention, the humans and Light Church members might've wiped out the Beastkin race long ago!
Even in the past, a Beastskin Princess managed to step into the realm of Demi-God and killed a total of two Elven Demigods and three Human Demi-Gods to vent her anger. Unfortunately, her reckless action infuriated the entire world, leading to the destruction of the Beastkin Race at the end of the Chaos Era.
Abium remembered the past and thought how sorrowful their life was. If not for Beast Empire's alliance with the Elven kingdom and Mother Goddess's protection, Light Church members might have already killed every Beastkin on this continent. He quickly cast those thoughts away and introduced himself.
"I only did what I believed to be truly right, Madam. By the way, I'm Abium."
At that moment, Nicolaus buttoned his shirt, looked up at the sky, and asked.
"What's our next plan?"
Meanwhile, Abium also glanced at the blue screen floating in the sky and soon widened his eyes.
"We already killed 67 Skeletons?" He couldn't help but be surprised a bit.
"You killed the most. Anyway, we still have 46 hours left, and this doesn't look like a tough mission to me." Nicolaus commented.
But Abium shook his head and spoke coldly.
"We can't be careless, Nicolaus. What if the Necromancer turns out to be a powerful one?" He suddenly paused for a moment as he thought of something and asked.
"Now that I think about it, when did you realize I wasn't Thallan?"
Upon hearing this, Nicolaus lamented inwardly and snorted.
"I'm not dumb enough to not notice it after such a long time."
While chatting, everyone turned around and started moving deep into the woods.
After walking into the woods for some time, Fennelis quietly looked at the surroundings and spoke.
"Nicolaus said that we were in some pocket dimension. But do you have more information about it? I'm not familiar with the Pocket Dimensions, but I am certain that someone or something is there to maintain it, right?"
Abium was stunned by those words.
'She also knew about the pocket dimensions? It seems she came from a rich family.' He hurriedly nodded and explained.
"Unlike Easica World and other planes, the pocket dimensions don't have 'Will' on their own, My Lady. They are artificial creations. So, to ensure stability, the mages of ancient times created artificial spirits. I also heard that this pocket dimension is more like a training group for young mortals like us."
"Training ground? But for what?" Fennelis looked confused and continued to walk.
Meanwhile, Abium shook his head and spoke.
"I also have no idea about it, My Lady. But if we want to learn more about this place, we have to complete this so-called mission and explore further." Abium paused as he thought of the fortress and continued.
"My concern is the Military Fort that appears in the middle of this island. It's guarded heavily by undead skeletons and even has multiple outposts on the outskirts, making it harder for anyone to infiltrate inside. But what surprised me most was the Death Knight's use of the Easica language."
"Easica's common language? Did they once belong to Easica World?" Fennelis asked in surprise.
"I don't think so. The skeletons also spoke another language that seemed so unfamiliar to me. I suspect these undead skeletons must have come from another plane or something, but they learned our local language through someone from the Easica World. From what I've observed so far, only Death Knight is fluent in our common tongue, not the other skeletons." Abium deliberated for a moment and then added.
"This suggests that a necromancer came to this dimension before us and seemed to have gained some ability to create undead skeletons with emotions. I'm 100% sure that Necromancer is the one controlling the undead. But I still have no clue about the language they spoke."
"Undead skeletons with emotions? What do you mean? They are also living creatures, right?" Nicolaus asked with an intrigued look.
Meanwhile, Abium chuckled inwardly and shook his head.
It was natural for them not to know anything about the undead. After all, Nicolaus and Fennelis had never met any undead or necromancers in their lifetime.
But he had battled against these undead skeletons for more than 20 years and knew how a normal undead skeleton would act.
'An Undead skeleton will only obey his master, aka a necromancer's command, and never interact with other undead. They always act like puppets!'
However, what he had witnessed earlier made him deeply reflective. If the necromancers were capable of creating skeletons with emotions, they would've long started to reveal themselves to the outside world and ravaged the entire mainland.
'I can't allow this necromancer to leave this dimension.'
Abium shook his head and decided not to be anxious.
At that moment, Fennelis made a suggestion.
"Let's take some rest first. I can't even walk due to fatigue."
Abium and Nicolaus agreed with Fennelis, and the group moved towards the previous shelter area.
They arrived at the open area a few minutes later and gathered under the olive tree's shadow.
"Would you like to eat something?" Abium asked while taking out multiple utensils like silver pots, a magic stove, knives, and a cutter board.
After that, he took out one kg of mutton with bones, a half-liter of chicken stock, three unpeeled onions, a few rosemary leaves, thyme leaves, ginger, coriander, white wine, salt crystal, and many more.
Upon seeing this, both Nicolaus and Fennelis were stunned.
"You came prepared?" Nicolaus asked in shock.
"Of course, I planned on exploring this pocket dimension from the very beginning. Before coming to Bare Keep Town, I brought six months' worth of food, clothes, etc., for two people." Abium responded calmly and started cooking. First, he cut the meat into small pieces and placed them in a separate bowl. After that, he peeled the onions, chopped them into pieces, and put them separately. He also chopped the other leaves into pieces and cut the ginger and garlic into small ones.
Following that, he put the stock into a stewpan, boiled it for two minutes, and put the chopped meat into it. He used the frying spoon to skim it for a while and added the prepared onions, spices, herbs, salt, and wine. He then reduced the heat and let the meat cook for 30 to 40 minutes. He also cooked white rice in a separate pot during his free time and switched off everything.
"I'm amazed by your cooking skill," Fennelis uttered in shock as she opened the lid and checked if the meat was well cooked.
"I learned it from my uncle, My Lady. Although mine won't be as good as his-"
Before he could even finish his words, Fennelis tasted the stew and widened her eyes in surprise.
"It's delicious." She commented with a nod and then spoke.
"Sit down and take some rest. Let me do the serving." If Fennelis weren't tired, she wouldn't have allowed Abium to cook.
'It seems her mother raised this kid well.' While thinking, she took out the wooden plates and started serving the food. They then sat under the tree's shade and ate their food in silence.
After that, Fennelis, Umi, and Nicolaus decided to take some rest, covered the ground with a leather mat, and started sleeping.
Meanwhile, Abium sat silently and decided to guard.