Adam hurriedly made his way to the classroom, happily greeting the other teachers along the way. The librarians weren't used to such greetings, but Adam enjoyed doing it and seeing their stunned reactions as they took a few seconds to return the greeting.

The old classroom was as normal and empty as always, with Franco and Bianca arguing about something when they saw Adam enter. The teacher was nowhere to be seen.

—Do we have any special classes?— Adam asked excitedly

—No idea, I couldn't care less,— Bianca replied brusquely, dampening Adam's excitement —Why did that idiot have to make us wake up earlier?

—It's just going to be another crappy class...— Franco added, lazily sprawled on his desk—I just want to get out of this floor and go home...

Yes, the kids had grown up, but not Adam... That was one of the big problems of living in a cave surrounded by mushrooms with an old bookshelf and a godfather who only cared about matters of life and death.

Feeling a bit down due to the lack of excitement, Adam sat at his desk to wait, but it seemed like the teacher was running late, so he started studying for a while. Franco looked at him as if he were a fool for studying so much and asked:

—Aren't you going to rest, Adam?

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—Yeah, but I hate resting— Adam replied, thinking about the Little Books' chase on the 5th floor below every day.

—Could you come upstairs to play with us?— Franco replied, looking at Adam with a bit of laziness due to the long wait —You're always studying; you should relax a bit, buddy.

—Maybe some other day...— Adam responded sadly. According to his godfather, if he played with his friends upstairs, the white wooden bookshelves would kill him for resting. This eventually led to Adam isolating himself from his classmates.

—At this rate, that 'some other day' will be when we're ready for the black robe reading— Bianca said with irony, looking at Adam studying—By the way, have you guys noticed that Professor Aquiles has been acting a bit odd lately?

—Yeah, that thing on his head will end up killing him...— Franco said ironically and somewhat coldly.

—Do you think that thing will keep growing?— Adam asked, feeling worried. He cared a lot about his teacher, but he had also noticed that something was off with him lately.

—It's getting bigger every day, sometimes it talks on its own— Bianca replied with some fear —It keeps spouting nonsense; it's almost like the thing on his head is trying to bother us.

—Yeah, at this rate, they'll send him down to the lower floors...— Franco added with some disdain —That's what happens when you take a magical book lightly. You had terrible luck, Adam.

Adam was quite worried; he knew what the lower floors were like and didn't want to see his teacher there. But his friends weren't lying; the professor had been in a bad state lately. The growth on his forehead now occupied a significant portion of his face, and if it kept growing, it would leave him blind.

—He'll get better...— Adam commented, trying to ease his nerves.

—If not, we'll have to put up with another teacher...— Bianca added, frustrated by the situation.