Adam felt quite excited about the list of possible magical books, so he focused on trying to put together a list with the help of his godfather.
However, according to Adam's godfather's instructions, before selecting the four magical books, it would be advisable for the young hero to read the two magical books he could read at the moment, which were "Ham and Cheese" and "Golden Vegetables".
That way, Adam could gain some more experience about magical books before deciding which ones he wanted to select on his own or if he wanted to follow the list prepared by his godfather, just like he did with the glasses.
The idea proposed by his godfather seemed interesting to Adam, so he prepared at his desk to read the first magical book of his life.
With great care, Adam opened "Golden Vegetables". The book only had 10 yellowed pages, so it was a quite short and simple read until he finished the book.
While Adam read the 10 pages, the eyeless old man looked at him from the ceiling with approval. He seemed quite happy to see Adam reading a magical book, so happy that Adam started to suspect that something strange was going on. Nevertheless, he decided to ignore it and continue with his reading.
*Poof *...When Adam finished reading, the book snapped shut and disappeared into thin air.
Adam watched the book vanish in front of him and was grateful that he had removed his fingers in time. However, he got scared because he didn't feel anything abnormal or magical in his body, and the book had disappeared.
Adam feared that for some reason, he might have misread the book and wasted his chance to read his first magical book. Since the eyeless old man seemed too excited to talk at the moment, the young hero decided to ask his godfather for advice.
His godfather responded with neater handwriting than usual:
'I guess it's time to be honest and tell you that I never read a magical book in my life, so I know absolutely nothing about it from personal experience.
What I can tell you is that if the magical book disappears, it's because you should have understood its ability.
Just in case: Could you explain briefly what you read? How does the magical ability described in the book work? Are there any instructions or usage conditions?
If you feel like your hand is about to explode while writing, you should stop. But given our special bond, you should be able to tell me the contents of the book without any problems.'
Adam read the message carefully, but his heart was quite worried. Since childhood, he had thought that he had a super-godfather who could always save him from all his problems, but today, he discovered that it might not be the case. With a lot of nerves because of the warning, Adam explained what his magical book said:
The book told the story of a little tuna that sailed the ocean in search of its family, fearing to be eaten by other sea creatures. The fish faced several terrifying problems reuniting with its shoal, and each of the 20 side of the 10 pages told a short story where the tuna cleverly survived encounters with progressively more dangerous creatures. In the end, the little tuna managed to reunite with its family, and together they swam happily through the ocean.
When the young hero finished narrating the story, his godfather replied:
'If what the book described is not a literal description of how to use your ability, then what is it, Adam?'
The red-haired boy wrote:
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'A riddle? Do I have to solve it to learn the ability?'
His godfather responded:
'I have no idea, but it could be a riddle. Although the story seems like an ordinary children's tale, you clearly got something, and that's why the book disappeared.
If you don't feel anything strange on land, try drowning yourself in the water, and we'll see if something peculiar happens.'
Adam looked at the cave lake uncomfortably. While he knew he couldn't die from drowning in this magical lake, the sensation of drowning was horrible, and the pain continued until he lost consciousness and was healed by the magical water.
With some doubts, Adam took off his black cloak and carefully placed it on a rock. He dove into the water and tried to lose consciousness. But to his surprise, as soon as he submerged, an instinct surged inside him, screaming that he could change shape.
The young hero followed his instinct. Immediately, his body exploded, creating a bubble of blood that dyed the water red. Within the thick red blood, a tiny tuna could be seen swimming curiously all around.
After experimenting with various swimming techniques, Adam's tuna-shaped body exploded into a thousand pieces. From the fish's blood, a miniature human body emerged, which grew until it reached the young hero's normal size.
As strange as it looked to see someone explode and a creature emerge from their body, Adam wasn't bothered. In fact, he didn't even feel uncomfortable or tired from doing it and believed he could do it as many times as he wanted while underwater. Adam tried a few more things with his new ability and then emerged to tell his godfather about it.
Adam's words disappeared from the biography, and other words appeared in their place:
'It seems to be something instinctive. I had heard rumors that it was something learned over time, but each magical ability seems to be handled differently.
Remember not to tell anyone other than me about the contents of magical books, or you'll die. We are sould bonded, so there's no problem.
However, you will feel a warning when you talk about something that should be kept secret. Usually, the feeling is like getting kicked in the balls, so don't be afraid to make mistakes, but remember to heed the warnings you feel in your body.'
Adam read the words in the biography with much happiness. His mood had improved a lot since apparently the magical book gave other abilities related to its main function: 'Breathing underwater'. Now he could turn into a tuna, which was much better than just breathing underwater, as he could swim much faster and also change the dimensions of his body without any problems.
Furthermore, the curtain of blood created when his body exploded worked very well as a possible way to fake his death or create confusion if something was chasing him. The only problem was that the ability only worked underwater; once Adam returned to the surface, he lost the instinct to become a fish.
With more excitement, Adam proceeded to read his next magical book: 'Ham and Cheese'.
The book told the story of how a rare insect would sting a young man's body at night, causing the young man's skin to glow. The story was quite short, with only 5 pages, and each page recounted the story of one of the nights when the boy was stung by the insect, making the story repetitive and quite boring.
Although this story seemed more magical, as he read it, Adam felt something coming out of the book and pricking his hand each time he managed to read a complete page. However, the magical effect of this book was not as pleasant since the prick felt like a needle piercing the skin, causing quite a bit of pain.
Without complaining about the pain, Adam understood from the narrated story that this was how he could obtain the ability and tried flipping through the book's pages with various parts of his body so that all of them received the prick. When the young hero finished reading the 5 pages, the book disappeared into thin air.
Adam focused on his body to check for changes and noticed a difference. The young man lifted his finger and observed how it blinked with a very faint light from under his skin. However, the emitted light was barely useful, only allowing him to find his finger in the dark. On the other hand, the other parts of his body that received the prick didn't light up.
With disappointment, Adam asked his godfather to see if he could get some useful hints to use this magical ability better. The last time his godfather gave him good advice, even though he hadn't read a magical book, so the young hero was hopeful.
Adam's godfather replied:
'It might improve over time, or you might receive more pricks every night until it becomes useful. Remember that in the story, it also takes several nights until the boy receives his 5 pricks. So the answer probably is to wait and observe.
From now on, read your next books as if they were riddles to be solved and not just stories because it seems my hypothesis of precise instructions was incorrect, and magical books seem to be more like stories than instructions.
Next time, don't be an idiot and receive the pricks only on your finger: if we have to amputate a finger at you because the ability turns out to be a curse, it's not a big deal. I mean, there won't be a next time: if that happens, you're doomed! Anyway, if you feel the same with any other magical book, minimize the effect to a single area!'