The First Hall of the Eternal Library (3)
Twisting his feet, he readied his fist, raising it to smash the young man's skull—of course, only to a certain extent, from which recovery would have been easier.
But he stopped, his eyes widening in astonishment.
The man floating midair—at the current millisecond—looked dangerously similar to his father and Luke's sworn brother, the one who was second in wisdom to Luke himself, Thomas.
Baam!
Nox's head crashed against Luke's sturdy abdomen. Although he had attempted to tackle the godly man, he couldn't manage to bulge him even by a single centimetre.
Luke returned to reality, escaping from the momentary trance that had lasted less than the blink of an eye.
He felt a weak tug on his ankles, as if someone was squeezing them with barely any force.
"Pl-please!" Nox cried, kneeling on the ground, gripping Luke's legs with all his might.
Tears flowed down his smooth, olive skin, dripping drop by drop on Luke's shoes.
For the next few seconds, the master of the library stood frozen, not moving even a single strand of muscle in his body.
He was currently experiencing a feeling he had been forced to forget in his long imprisonment in the Library… It was something he had forgotten his heart was even capable of.
He felt… longing.
Longing to break free from all his shackles.
Longing to free his comrades, who were living imprisoned due to his actions.
Longing to smile. Longing to cry.
Longing to experience feelings again.
Longing to meet his descendant, who had entered the tower at the same time Nox did.
The reason he didn't wish to assist Nox wasn't that he hated him… On the contrary, he didn't feel anything towards him.
Although he had always wished to get out of this prison, he had never expected that a human would be sent by the Tower, to make his wish finally come to fruition.
But he knew the plots of the 'Tower' all a little too well. He knew that the Tower took pleasure in giving people a glimmer of faint hope before snatching it away in an instant.
He knew that feeling a little too well.
There were times when he thought that death was a better choice for the boy compared to the things he would have to face if he remained alive.
But at the current instant, when he was able to glimpse a mirror image of the boy's father in the boy, he felt strangely relieved.
He didn't know why he felt this way, nor could he explain it in any tangible manner. But such a feeling was much welcomed after the long time he spent alone with nothing other than despair to accompany him.
Bending down, he placed his open palm on Nox's head, careful not to unintentionally crush it.
"You will need to work hard," he said, looking into the young man's tearful eyes, "harder than anyone else. In the current volatile state of the Tower, where the higher beings are afraid of anything related to the Library, you will become a target for many.
The life you will lead will be anything but comfortable.
But if you follow what I tell you to do, the chance of saving your parents will rise all the more."
.
.
.
After having a short but informative conversation with Luke, Nox put on the glasses given to him before standing in front of the first bookshelf and starting to read through the books one by one.
Luke had advised him on which books to read, which would greatly help him climb the next few floors of the Tower in the most efficient way.
According to the information he had given him, an hour passing in the library is barely a minute in the outer world.
That could be further elaborated, as a day in the Eternal Library amounts to just about twenty-four minutes in the Tower, and a month spent in the confines of the Library is almost half a day in the real world.
But moving forward with this logic, an year in the library is comparable to under a week in the Tower, and a decade here just passes the two-month time period in the real world.
"Just how many years has he spent trapped in this place?" Nox mumbled to himself, flipping through a book.