The First Hall of the Eternal Library (4)

Thanks to the spectacles that he had been given, he was able to read at an extreme pace while successfully comprehending each page.

In just a few minutes, he placed the thick tome back before moving to a different bookshelf to find another one of the books Luke had told him about.

One after the other, he kept on flipping through thick and heavy books. With each page he read, his understanding of the world he had been transported to grew tenfold, and he took a step closer on the long path towards freeing his parents that lay ahead of him.

He spent days and days surrounded by books that held ancient knowledge that the average player couldn't even imagine getting their filthy hands on.

He read standing, sitting, lying down, and exercising. Not a single second passed where his sapphire-like eyes weren't contemplating the depth behind the words before them.

"According to Luke," he mumbled to no one in particular, keeping the book in his hand on top of a pile almost twice his height, "only after I complete reading the two hundred thousand books present here will I be authorised to move to the next hall of the Eternal Library."

The expression that his face carried didn't resemble the exhaustion of someone who had read hundreds of books in two days and dreaded what lay before him, but instead resembled that of a courageous warrior who didn't fear the long and tiring journey ahead of him.

He picked up the pile of books before him, walking towards the bookshelves to arrange the tomes—something he had been told to not forget doing, no matter what.

"Hey there!" called out a voice behind him, making him stop.

"Caligo?" he mumbled in confusion, turning back to face the man who looked just like him, almost a mirror image, except for the white hair and lizard-like yellow eyes.

"Who else?" Caligo replied, adjusting his white tie, which hung firmly over his white shirt and white pants.

He walked towards Nox before swiftly taking the entire pile of books from the man's grasp.

"I've been ordered to assist you so that you may devote all of your time to what needs to be done," he said, placing the books back where they belonged. "Kindly focus on studying and leave these menial tasks to me."

Nox was taken aback by the sudden change in Caligo's attitude. He had been somewhat hostile towards him just a few weeks ago, but now he seemed to carry out his duties with passion.

'Just what happened…' he thought, but soon shook his head to make the unnecessary thought disappear.

It didn't matter why Caligo had had a sudden change of heart. What mattered was the fact that Nox could now focus all his efforts on studying without having to worry about rearranging the books.

Taking a deep breath, he picked up another book from the shelf.

.

.

.

Almost two months had passed in the Eternal Library.

Caligo strolled along one of the bookshelves before finally stopping and taking out a book from it.

"Was this the one you wanted?" he inquired, appearing in the first hall's reading room.

Nox sat on one of the couches, flipping through a thick book almost a thousand pages long.

"That's the one," he replied, snatching the book from his white-haired counterpart, who had made his way beside him.

In just under an hour, he finished reading the book before respectfully placing it on the chair beside him, adding to the large book pile that had formed.

Getting up, he stretched his sore arms and massaged his burning eyes. Although he could read at an unimaginable pace without sacrificing his ability to comprehend, there was a certain limit to the knowledge his human brain was able to take in at a single sitting.

Luke, too, had warned him not to overexert his mortal capabilities.

"I'll head back to the Tower for now," he said, folding his spectacles before placing them on the chair he had been sitting on.

"Very well," replied Caligo, "Since you are now eligible to access the first hall, you'll be able to enter the Eternal Library of your own will in the future."

"I know..." mumbled the pony-tailed man as his body began to disappear before he himself vanished.

Caligo smirked, picking up the pile of books before disappearing deep into the forest of shelves in order to place the books back in their rightful places, "He's become even more intriguing."