Adam slowly opened his eyes in a daze, he was standing in the hallway without the cone on his head, looking at the two colored bookshelf.
Adam didn't feel anything particularly different in his body. Although from the story of the cap he understood that the mask served to change one's karma, one's karma was not something he could feel, unfortunately.
Having completed this task, Adam told his godfather that he had obtained the blue mask and waited for further instructions.
His godfather replied:
'Well, that's all. We're just looking for the mask. Supposedly, the mask should help you stop the eyeless old man from trying to make you a toy maker.
It might also give you more options with some bookshelves in the future - keep an eye out for bookshelves that react positively to good karma
Trust me, that mask is worth more than a magic book. Collecting positive karma in this corrupt world is more complicated than negative karma. From now on, try to help others more seriously (if it's easy)'
Adam read the message carefully, he knew that his godfather was not lying about the old man with no eyes. Almost every week, he insisted that he had to learn the language of the lower floor and read the magic book of human skin.
According to Adam's godfather, a toymaker would give the Eyeless Old Man much more magical books than a librarian, and that's why the Eyeless Old Man didn't mind discarding Adam for a better 'hero'.
The situation became so complicated that Adam had made the decision to move out, but his godfather did not want him to do that.
The boy still needed the booklets from the old man without eyes and if he moved he would not give them to him. So Adam was forced to keep pretending he didn't know the trouble with the human skin book in order to get the booklets and return the favor.
Adam went back to the cave, it was already late for class and right now it was more important to test if the eyeless old man's attitude had changed.
Adam approached the stairs of hexagon 6 of the 5 middle floor, but before he could get in he noticed that a giant head came out of the stairs, it was the same marble head with several scars on its face that Adam saw a while ago. The middle floor 5 guards were startled and looked at the stairs suspiciously.
The head ignored the guards and looked at Adam, as if wondering if he should or shouldn't do something. Nobody wanted to say anything, so there was an awkward silence, until Adam decided to break that silence by asking:
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—Did they go upstairs on the lower floors?
—No…—he replied with his head looking carefully at Adam, it seemed that he doubted something.
—Can I come down?—Adam asked, these kinds of giant heads always brought back bad memories.
—Of course!— answered the head in a military tone, disappearing into the marble.
Adam tried to go down the stairs, but a guard approached him and asked:
—Could you give me an ID card? It is not normal to see the General.
Adam became quite nervous, his hands were shaking as he reached for the card and handed it to the guard, this was the first time he had been given it by a guard.
The guards noticed Adam's nervousness and became nervous too.
The guard took Adam's ID and placed it in his red notebook. Then he looked up at Adam for a few minutes and looked back down at the notebook, he didn't seem to want to be confused.
—Is something wrong?—Asked another of the guards, who was waiting for the answer.
—64341 is his identification number—the guard answered, looking at Adam's white robes.
—Quite old, more than 500 years old—Another guard answered, he seemed to be the chief or the one with the highest rank in the formation of 4 guards—He must be a reborn let him pass, I don't want problems
—But his robes are white, and this guy must be almost 20 by now—said the guard holding Adam's ID suspiciously.
Adam, he was super nervous, and he was getting more and more nervous as they talked about him.
—Yes it's weird. Well noted—Said the boss, taking out a red book—Please put your finger on this notebook.
Adam put his finger on the notebook, if the ID was the same as the bank, it should work fine. And sure enough, Adam's data appeared in the notebook.
—I'm sorry, but it was rare to see the general—the chief answered when he saw that the data coincided in the notebook. But just in case, he looked Adam up and down; they didn't want to allow a creature to sneak into the lower floors on their turn.
After the boss had inspected Adam for a few minutes, he looked into Adam's eyes and stared at them…for a few minutes.
One of the guards noticed the boss's abnormal state and quickly opened his red book and recited a page.
Adam fell against the ground, sticking to it. He couldn't lift a muscle. He felt that something huge was crushing him.
The same guard who had recited the page approached the chief, put his hand on his shoulder and asked:
—It's a creature, isn't it? You are hypnotized.
—It's not—the guard answered, massaging his forehead; it seemed like his head hurt—But it seems like the 20-year-old saved half a floor in his previous life. Release it and let it go, I don't want problems.
The guard quickly followed the order and Adam was allowed to descend the stairs.
Adam didn't quite understand what had happened and just in case, he asked his godfather in the middle of his way down the stairs; he didn't want any more trouble with the guards.
His godfather answered:
'It may be that you have too much positive karma and have some alteration in the body.
But it is very rare that you have so much good karma; although you were a hero before and grew up with the fear of not being able to enter the cave anymore, so your bad deeds were non-existent.
I also don't know how good the effect of the mask is, I could never put it on, but the more difficult the conditions to get something, the better the effects that the shelves can offer you: that's why they tend to make your life difficult.
Just in case, check your eyes when you get a chance. Your eyes should have some fairly noticeable white flicker in the pupil'