When Adam reached the railing, he noticed that hundreds of people were staring at him. It seemed like everyone on this floor had gathered. People were wearing black, red, violet, and a few other colors that Adam had never seen before.
Among the red-robed people was Cesar, the school director, who seemed to be approaching Adam to inquire about something important. He was the only one in the crowd who came forward to the boy.
—How far did the old man in rags get, Adam?— Cesar asked, visibly nervous.
The hundreds of people behind him fell silent, waiting for Adam's response. It appeared that the matter was highly relevant to these librarians.
—He got to the black one...— Adam replied, feeling even more nervous, as he looked at the eager faces of the hundreds of librarians.
As soon as Adam gave his answer, murmurs began to ripple through the crowd. Some people tried to run towards Adam to ask him something, but they were stopped by the guards. The situation was getting out of control, and Adam started to get scared.
He even heard his teacher Aquiles shouting from the crowd, as if his life depended on it:
—Did he ascend, Adam?! Did he really ascend?!
But the boy didn't quite understand what his teacher was referring to; he only remembered the last question and the movements of the old man, not his words during the other answers.
—Adam, listen carefully and don't get the answer wrong...— Cesar asked, and everyone else fell silent to listen to the conversation—Did the old man manage to jump into the void?
—Yes...— Adam responded fearfully.
The moment the affirmation left the boy's mouth, an old man in a violet robe opened a book he had in his hand, and thousands of fireworks shot up into the sky, forming a large phrase in the air: 'He ascended!'
*Puff*...*Puff*... As if it were a signal, everyone in the crowd started launching fireworks into the void of hexagon 0, causing them to explode in the middle.
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Adam was astonished, observing from a distance as people from the other main hexagons surrounding hexagon 0 also began shooting fireworks into the center of hexagon 0.
While this was happening, the same old man in the violet robe opened an even larger book, then recited some words that flooded hexagon 3. As he recited, all the heads of the bookshelves in the main hexagon emerged, facing towards hexagon 0.
When the old man finished reciting his words, all the decorations in hexagon 3 changed. It filled with white streamers throughout the bookshelves' aisles, white paper stars appeared stuck to the shelves, and a beautiful white carpet appeared on the wooden floor of the aisles.
In the center of the ceiling, above hexagon 3, a giant banner appeared, saying: 'The Fifth Ascended!'
Adam was awestruck by the excitement of the situation. It seemed like the librarians didn't care about burning all their money to celebrate this moment. In fact, a big party was about to be organized around hexagon 0.
—Here, Adam, put on this cone— Cesar said, handing him a paper cone with the phrase 'we are 5' written on it. Apparently, everyone was wearing these cones on their heads—Go with Aquiles, and if they ask you too many questions, call for the guards.
Adam nodded and went with his teacher. Just as Cesar had predicted, the questions were many, but the answers Adam could provide were few. Fortunately, the guards helped maintain control, and he managed to join his teacher.
—It's incredible, Adam. I'm really alive to witness someone ascending...— Aquiles said with a smile, gazing at the celebrating crowd.
—Are ascensions really that rare?— Adam asked; he still recalled the certainty in the old man's blind eyes.
—Oh yes, extremely rare— Aquiles replied joyfully. —To ascend, one must master a floor. They have to know all the books from all the bookshelves. All the secrets and the secrets within secrets must be discovered. And then there's the impossible question.
—All the books from one floor?— Adam asked, surprised.
—Yes, all the books. That's why ascensions are so rare— Aquiles said, looking expectantly at hexagon 0—In all the recorded history, there have been only 4 ascensions on this floor. That's one ascension every 50,000 years; that's how rare they are, Adam. And the rumors are many. If he truly accomplished it, now the gifts should come.
—Gifts? What do they give?— Adam asked with much excitement. Now he understood why everyone was so excited. Not only were ascensions rare, but they also came with a surprise gift.
—Those are just rumors... so we'll have to wait and see if it really happens...— Aquiles replied somewhat nervously; it seemed that the gift was quite valuable—What I can assure you is that the gifts for the bookshelves are not rumors. It seems like they're going crazy.
Adam looked at the bookshelves, and his teacher was right. All the bookshelves had formed heads, they were talking among themselves, and they seemed to be looking at hexagon 0 with excitement.