Hal quickly got to work looking for different books; he was not only interested in the blue moon but also in answering the questions that had been floating around his head as of late.
The first thing he saw was a large book right after the steel door that helped one manoeuvre around the area.
All you needed to do was touch the book while thinking about the thing you want, and the book would show directions to all books with related concepts, which made him wonder why Roshuna wasted her time memorising this entire labyrinth.
He asked for all the knowledge he required and soon had all the books he needed to finally begin reading through.
He had not yet obtained any book of Gregory's, as he wanted to fully concentrate on the minor questions before tackling the bigger ones.
"First, what are gods in this world?"
He picked up one of the many books on his desk, the book was written by a scholar known only by his initials, "JJ", the book's title was "The Triumph of Gods", a pretty catch name to bring in the readers.
The book was an action novel that spoke of two friends aiming to become gods of their clan, and as he opened its pages, Hal couldn't help but get sucked in. He flipped through chapters where he thought his favourite character would die, striking him with horror.
Or the parts that angered him whenever the protagonist failed to confess his feelings to the female lead because of his other friend's interference
Even the plot twists had him on his toes.
"What do you mean, he was the main villain this whole time? He isn't the lead's best friend"
The book's pages came to an end as glowing ink soon began throwing Hal out of his trance, and he soon read a title labelled.
[THE REASON WE RENOUNCE GOD HOOD]
Gods are people among us who have been touched by higher beings and allowed to use their power, and for generations, we have been hailed as gods.
[But ask of your fellow gods who will come after us that the truth I uncovered was indeed terrifying]
[The word God was once used to refer to beings far from human, beings more ancient than even the concepts whose knowledge is even harder to fathom than that which is forbidden
[For generations, I have been researching about them, and I have come to realise that all it is doing to me is driving me crazy, and I feel my sanity leave me every day]
[I do not know for how much longer I will draw, hence I call out to my fellow gods, renounce that blasphemous title, for it makes us a target to beings far beyond our understanding]
[They wish to replace us, become us, and then take our world as their own. They are beings that exist to reap destruction, so I announce that from today, we shall not be the god of travels of knowledge, but a united force titled the Scholars of Fernis.
The image of Margret flew into Hal's head, causing him to drop the book as his own fingers trembled.
"What are these beings?"
He flipped back to the page he was on and read again
[What are these things you ask? I do not know. You may be thinking gods, but believe not now, you must be asking then why target people who have been revered as gods.
[And the only answer I managed to get was simple: they seek the remnants of a now-faded concept]
The book shut itself in Hal's hands, leaving him speechless. He was unable to open the book again, and the glow it gave off vanished.
He placed it down and leaned back.
"So, the concept of gods faded in this world, but why do these beings want its remnants? Is there something that they possess that makes them special?"
He stared at himself and thought back to the entity that stole his identity, "If they seek those with the title of god, then would he seek me?"
He picked up the rest of the books concerning gods and found them talking about something similar, but none as detailed as the one he had just read.
He turned his attention to another book, this one the only one that spoke of this type of information.
The book was titled The Different Types of Knowledge and was written by a scholar who taught at the congregation's school.
"Sir Jonathan Shaw, a renowned professor at the congregation, what secrets do you have for me?"
This book was about the history of the continent and how it was conserved and recovered. Hal was never good at history and so found it useless to know.
He flipped through the pages and finally arrived at his destination
[My fellow scholars, I may have dwelled more in the past, but I have finally found out something more significant to our purpose, and that is the history of Forbidden knowledge"
The book's title then appeared on the page in bright, dazzling light
[THE ORIGIN OF FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE]
[I have found out that knowledge was not always forbidden and that people would perceive it just as we do, but they still could not comprehend it]
[It drove anyone who came into contact with it mad and rendered them hollow shells of themselves, but at some point in history, people stopped being able to perceive this knowledge]
[It was when the world fostered the birth of the embodiment of knowledge known as secrecy, it was the force that birthed forbidden knowledge and saved us all]
The words on the page drew to a halt, rendering Hal disappointed. Maybe he should have read this one first before reading the other.
'I knew history couldn't be fun"
He shut the book and finally made his way to the "G" section of the book, where he located the fourth shelf and began to search until he finally found it.
"Archives of Gregory, I found you"
He pulled the handle, revealing a long compartment with all the books labelled with where they were found and their estimated age.
He looked through and found all the books that he had written while in the capital, and among them, only one glowed.
Its shine was more violent than any he had ever seen as Hal reached out and grabbed the book, pulling it from its counterparts.
He did not bother finding out what the ordinary book was about and quickly rushed to the glowing letters in the book.
[The entity feeds on my mind, and I am afraid I will soon have to end my life to prevent it from having me as its vessel]
[All those who read this book, there is one thing that you must know, that this is a warning to all scholars who lay their hands on my book]
[He hungers for a world to devour, a being from beyond our world that wishes to paint it red. He is known as]
Hal's eyes moved down to view the title of the book as he finally glimpsed the name.
[THE KING OF…]
The pages all suddenly lost their glow as Hal flipped through the book, only to find nothing. But then he was struck by a headache as he felt a voice whisper in his ears.
" Ask my unquenchable novel and you shall receive", Hal's eyes widened
"Lord of Stars", a chuckle rang out within his ears as the voice continued
"I do not wish to hurt you, hence let's talk in a different way" The book ignited with words, once as this time, a different statement appeared
[You will not find what you seek here, for the information that was once kept within this book was stolen]
The words on the page moved to create a new statement
[And I am the only one who knows where this information is hidden, my little scholar]
"And where would that be?" The words moved once more and wrote
[This is not a good place to discuss such matters, for in here, eyes can appear from anywhere]
The pages lost their glow as Hal suddenly felt someone touch his shoulder. He turned up to see Mrs Roshuna, who stared at him with a horrifying look in her eyes
"What are you reading on a blank page, Mr Hal?" Hal felt her grip tighten on his shoulder as beads of sweat began to form on his forehead
He turned back to the book, which was now at a simple blank page. What excuse could he come up with, and what would she do to him? He failed to answer
He looked from the book to her and then back to the book before saying
"Mrs Roshuna, you terrified me. I was so confused by all the architecture stuff in this book that my mind slipped away, and I guess I just flipped the papers"
Even Hal was not convinced by his own excuse, but surprisingly, Mrs Roshuna's face returned to the cheerful one he was used to
"Oh, is that the case? Sorry for terrifying you, but I came down to inform you that the sun will soon set below the horizon"
Hal nodded as he handed the book to Mrs Roshuna and bowed
"I understand, I will take my leave then"
Hal did not turn around or stop moving, but something inside him told him that behind his back, Mrs Roshuna was staring at him with a murderous glint in her eye.