Adam wandered the aisles for a while longer, but there was certainly nothing interesting, so he decided to return to the cave. Upon exiting, he asked:

—What's the reason I couldn't see this before and now I can? I don't feel anything different in my body.

—Each magical book infects you with a bit of magic...—The eyeless old man said calmly—The more magical books you have, the more magical your body becomes. So, each book adds up, even the cursed ones. In fact, this magical power gives you some resistance to cursed books, except for those specifically designed to kill you, of course.

—For example, the Toy Maker's biography?—Adam asked. This information was very important; being a wizard seemed to grant resistance to the negative effects of books.

—Yes, that book aims to kill you—The eyeless old man responded firmly—But there are other books that only kill you if you don't meet their criteria, and those are the ones you can resist. In general, books are less demanding with wizards and scholars.

—Can books also give you advice based on your karma?—Adam said with doubts—Also, I'm noticing that reading magical books is becoming more difficult.

—No, it's the opposite: it's becoming more natural...—The eyeless old man corrected Adam—Your ancestors gifted you with immunity to the whims of magical books, like a shield against them. You still have it, but it's gradually breaking, and that's why you could read magical books without being affected by their will.

The eyeless old man looked at Adam seriously; it seemed like the next information would be quite important:

—Besides, the one who gave you advice wasn't the book, but an ancient wizard: one of your ancestors who realized your shield would break at the 6th book, and from there on, you'd have to live according to what the book wants you to live: its will. That's why in your first book, you only had to read, but after reading it, the shield broke a bit, and in the next book, you could feel the pinches. This continued until you finally reached the point where your shield is about to break, and the ancient wizard came out to warn you.

—What's it like to live at the will of a book?—Adam asked—Is the book going to swallow me and take me inside its pages?

—Yes, in many cases, books force you to become characters in their stories...—The eyeless old man responded seriously—That's why surviving magical books is complicated. However, your ancestors granted you all the initiation. Be thankful to those who ascended and the ancient wizard who kept their will to help newcomers on these floors. I wasn't aware that he also helped initiates on the wooden floors; I thought their masters did that.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Adam was quite shocked by this revelation. Without the shield, surviving his first magical book would have been very difficult. For example, "The Girl and the Beast" book would have been almost a guaranteed death; having to become the girl escaping from the beast. In other books without a clear story, it could have been even worse.

The eyeless old man, seeing that the boy seemed to be pondering the matter, added:

—However, you don't have to feel indebted to those old librarians. I'm sure that if you go as far as they did, you'll achieve something much more astounding, Adam. Now you see how important that black book generating maps is. Imagine when everyone uses your maps and imagines everyone bowing before me for your maps.

—Now I understand why you say I was the best investment of your life...—Adam murmured, reflecting.

The young redhead wasn't entirely sure about the usefulness of repeatedly seeing the same hexagons. But if the eyeless old man desired those maps so much, there must be some hidden trick. Tricks that Adam might never appreciate, but future generations would.

That's how this library worked. Without his ancestors, Adam would be in the middle of his life, not in his adolescence. Without them, this magical cave wouldn't exist, and he probably wouldn't have seen a single magical book in his life.

And the most recent revelation was that if not for his ancestors, he wasn't even sure if he would have survived after reading his first magical book. The story of these ancestors was truly saddening. Their help was enormous, but also so forgotten that even the names of the ascended were rarely remembered.

The eyeless old man, seeing that the topic interested the boy, added:

—Still, young man, 6 magical books protected by an innate shield... It's something only seen on the silver and gold floors, characterized by countless magical bookshelves. You know what's the most ironic part of this, young hero?

Adam was impressively surprised. He had never heard of a bookshelf that wanted to tell things to librarians just because. Clearly, the eyeless old man had a hidden intention, something he wasn't telling Adam. It was rare for him to provide so much information for free. However, like any librarian, the young hero was very curious, so he responded excitedly:

—What's ironic?!

The old man bring up his eyes, looked at him with a sly smile, and said:

—We could say that the ignorant people on the wooden floors live over the ruins of one of the most important magical cities in this library. When I was young, there were many wizards in these areas, kid; it was a source of pride to see them take your books. Now the idiots proudly live where the slaves of those wizards used to sleep. That's why I desire the purge so much; they don't deserve all this luxury. But you do, Adam, you are special. It took you almost 600 years, but you are the first young wizard I've seen in many, many years, and most importantly, you are the first wizard of my magical school. Now I'm a bookshelf with disciples on the silver and gold floors.

—Does that give you something special or why are you so happy?—Adam asked, suspicious of the eyeless old man. His strange attitude made it seem like he raised him like a pig for slaughter, and now he was telling him everything; the young redhead was still traumatized by the truth about the school and the Toy Maker's biography.

—Of course...—The eyeless old man said with a big smile, lowering his head so that his hat was emphasized—Can't you see my spectacular wizard hat?

—A hat?...—Adam muttered, looking like an idiot at the eyeless old man's pointed hat made of stones on his head.