196 Chapter 196

"I don't know if I thanked you before dying or if I didn't have a chance, but if it's the latter, I will tell you now. Thank you... Thank you... Thank you so much!"

"I have so many things to tell you, and I don't know where to start. I've never liked being emotional, as I thought that it depicted weakness. I know if I tell this to you, even I will find myself pathetic for letting my emotions get the best of me. That leaves me no choice but to write what I wanted to tell you all this time..."

"Throughout the centuries, Novius and I have spent most of our life in this tower, feeling trapped. People run from death, but it's only after you live long enough that you realize what a privilege death truly becomes..."

Cylix took another pause from writing, gazing at the stars above. "Thank you for granting me that privilege."

He further continued writing his thoughts in the silence of the night.

"After my family was wiped out, I had no one left in this world. I started closing myself from this cruel world, and I see some of that in you as well."

"Fortunately, that's when I met Novius, and he became a part of my family... The person who finally made me change my perspective and open up. In this world, he was all I had, and I was all he had in the name of family. I didn't believe someone else could become a part of this family, at least in this lifetime..."

"However, in such a short time, you've made me realize how wrong I was. Not just in judging your attention but also in everything else as well.*

"In the last few weeks, even we didn't realize when it happened, but we started considering you a part of our family and not just a disciple... You were the little brother that we never had... The little brother that we wanted to protect. The little brother that we would be leaving all alone in this world after we die. That's why we wanted to give you a gift... A gift of strength."

"You might think we were being biased to torture you by setting a restriction that you must defeat us with our own elements, but that's the only way we had to give you enough motivation to train. And since you've managed to kill me with that rule, I would like to think that we succeeded."

"We didn't do it because we wanted to make it impossible for you to defeat us. Instead, we did it so you could become stronger... Strong enough to protect yourself."

"When you go out of this tower, we won't be there to protect you. However, we hope that the knowledge we gave you will be able to help you in your times of need. If it can, no one would be happier than us! So please don't think of us as bad people. And lastly, don't think of yourself as a bad person."

"I gave you the most precious thing I could, knowledge. But that's not everything your master is leaving for you... I hope you enjoy your gifts. And stay safe... That's all I ask."

After finishing, Cylix folded the letter and placed it inside a small box that disappeared.

He stood up and walked closer to Gabriel, looking down at him. "I really hope you succeed tomorrow in the battle. However, I'm not going easy on you. If you can't even defeat me here, that means you aren't ready to face the world."

" I won't cheat you by going easy on you. Therefore, you'll be facing the strongest of me. So let me see... Let me see what miracles you can do with my Element, little brother."

****

[Present day]

Gabriel went through the letter, reading paragraph after paragraph. He didn't know why, but after going through the letter, he felt even more heavy on the inside.

"Family, huh..." He placed the letter safely inside his Spatial Storage, not wanting to lose it. If anything, this was the biggest gift that Cylix left him... Being called family by a person known as one of the strongest of his time.

"One family that wants to kill you for the safety of strangers," he muttered, remembering Maya. "And another family that wants you to kill them for their freedom."

He couldn't help but shake his head. It was as if he had received a family, only to lose it eventually. First, he lost his mother when he was very young. And next, he lost his other family because... They tried to kill him. And in this case, it was within a month.

Still, he preferred Cylix and Novius much more than he did Maya and her family. He felt much closer to them. For Maya and her family, that stabbed him while he was protecting them, he only had anger. But for Cylix and Novius, he felt sadness.

The two had really been trapped here for centuries, going crazy. It was surprising they were still sane.

After keeping the letter safely, he shifted his attention to the other items in the box.

One of the items was a beautiful golden key. He picked up the key but didn't know what it was. What did this key unlock? There was no mention of this key in the letter at all.

Observing the key from closer, he could see that there were some small symbols on it. Not only were these symbols too small, but they were also hard to recognize. He hadn't seen such symbols before, at least.

"Novius might be able to tell." He placed the key to the side and picked up the next item, which was a beautiful white ring.

As soon as he picked up the ring, he felt extremely cold. It was as if the ring was made of ice.

"A Numen?" Not only was the ring cold to touch, but it was also resisting being held by him for some reason which made Gabriel understand that it was also a Numen. But which Numen?

"I see you've started opening your presents already." Around the same time, Novius also returned with some more medicine.

He placed the plate with the medicine on the bed. "I'm not great at alchemy like Cylix, but I've tried my best. Eat it. This might provide some relief in your fever."

"What is this ring?" Gabriel asked Novius. More than his fever, he seemed concerned about this white ring.

Novius briefly observed the ring. "The Ring of Ice King... Cylix's most precious Numen. He didn't even let me touch it. He was so protective of it."