After passing through the door, Apolo observed an immense library on the other side. The library was so vast that it appeared much larger than what could naturally fit within the tower. Rows upon rows of bookshelves stretched out towards the seemingly endless horizon. Unlike the rest of the tower, the library's floor and walls were made of yellowish wood, creating the impression that one had entered another dimension upon passing through the entrance door. To illuminate the gigantic room, countless crystals danced from one place to another on the ceiling. While they moved in all directions without a discernible pattern, their sheer number ensured that every corner of the massive library was bathed in light.

However, what caught Apolo's attention the most upon entering the library was the gigantic creature situated in the middle of a circular desk, located just in front of the library's entrance. The creature stood almost three meters tall, and while its hands had a humanoid appearance, it had an innumerable quantity of them, and its appearance was far from that of a normal human. This abominable and repulsive being appeared to be a large fleshy ball with numerous arms moving randomly all over its desk.

Upon close examination, Apolo surmised that this faceless, legless fleshy ball must be the vendor, although he couldn't comprehend how it spoke, given that the vendor was nothing more than a large fleshy ball with countless arms. Each of the creature's arms appeared to have been artificially attached, as one could still see the stitches and threads used to add them. Furthermore, the arms were not all identical; some appeared to be from children, others from women, others from men, and others from the elderly. Everything seemed to indicate that this monstrosity had been created by taking many human skins and sewing them together into a ball, then filling it with something and gradually adding the arms until this abomination came to life.

Carefully, Apolo approached the large ball of arms and asked:

— Are you the vendor?

One of the creature's arms stopped moving randomly and instead stretched unnaturally until it was practically against Apolo's face. Then, the arm raised the palm of its hand in front of Apolo, and a mouth emerged from the center of the palm, displaying sharp, yellowed teeth that continued to drip incredibly foul-smelling saliva, as if hundreds of rotten fish were trapped between its teeth.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

— That's what some acolytes call me. Why have you come to the library? — Asked the mouth in the palm of the hand with a terribly unnatural voice, releasing the nauseating odor hidden between its teeth, causing Apolo to cover his nose with his hand.

— I've come to retrieve my courtesy book — Apolo replied, struggling not to vomit.

— Perfect, I remind you that, like all acolytes of this tower, you can borrow one book to begin your studies. However, you can only take one book without giving anything in return, so choose carefully — the vendor replied, forming a not very friendly smile— What is the name of the book you seek?

— "Magic for Distinguished Gentlemen" by Calixto of Black Tower, the first edition, sixth copy— Apolo calmly responded.

— How curious... — The creature whispered, extending its arm to encircle Apolo's entire body as if it were examining the giant from head to toe, even though the creature had no visible eyes anywhere— The sixth copy of that book is lost. I fear even I don't know where it is, but if you manage to find it, you can keep it as your courtesy book.

— Do you know if anyone searched for this copy in the past? — Apolo asked impatiently.

— A long time ago, some acolytes searched everywhere for it, but they all failed... — the vendor replied calmly, tantalizing Apolo.

— Do you know how to get to the children's book pavilion? — Apolo immediately inquired, looking somewhat desperate. It seemed that none of the other two mages in Apolo's family, who had the information given by their ancestor, had bothered to obtain this book. Or perhaps they did, but managed to escape the library without informing the creature that they had the book in their hands.

— "AZC w25" — the vendor replied enigmatically— You will find the pavilion in that direction, and you will receive no further hints on how to get there.

It appeared that each mage had to learn to "navigate" this library on their own.

— Well, we will see each other again when I get the book — Apolo replied. Fortunately, the instructions given in the fifth council explained how the enigmatic system of storing books in this library worked.

— We shall see... — the vendor said coldly as it withdrew the hand that had been speaking with Apolo and allowed the young man to walk further into the library.