After putting on the mask, Adam didn't feel anything particularly different in his body. Although, from the story of the wooden tablet, the young hero understood that the mask was meant to change one's karma, unfortunately, one's own karma wasn't something that could be felt.

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 it, boy. We were just looking for the mask. Supposedly, the mask should help you prevent the old eyeless man from trying to turn you into a Toy Maker.

It might also give you more options with some bookshelves in the future: keep an eye out for the bookshelves that react positively to good karma.

Believe me, that mask is worth more than a magical book. Gathering positive karma in this corrupt world is more complicated than the negative. From now on, try to help others more seriously (if it's easy).

Positive karma is very useful to neutralize some things we'll have to do in the future, and it's essential to try to stay with neutral karma, or you might start doing foolish things.'

Adam read the message attentively, knowing his godfather wasn't joking about the old eyeless man. Almost every week, the old man insisted that he had to learn the language of the lower floor and read the magical book made of human skin.

According to Adam's godfather, a Toy Maker would give the old eyeless man far more magical books than a librarian would, and that's why the old man didn't mind discarding Adam to find a better 'hero.'

The situation became so complicated that Adam had made the drastic decision to move, but his godfather didn't want him to do that. The boy still needed the little books that the old eyeless man had indirectly paid for with his mushrooms, and if he moved, the old man would likely withhold them. So, Adam was obliged to keep pretending he didn't know about the troubles brought by the book made of human skin to be able to get the little books and repay the favor.

The young hero headed back to the cave; it was already late for class, and right now, it was more important to test if the old eyeless man's attitude had changed.

Adam approached the stairs of hexagon 6 on the fifth middle floor, but before he could enter, he noticed that a giant head began to form on the spiral stairs. It was the same marble head with several scars on its face that Adam had seen some time ago. The guards of the fifth middle floor were startled and looked at the face on the stairs with suspicion.

The head ignored the guards and looked at Adam, as if pondering whether to do something or not. No one wanted to say anything, so an awkward silence ensued until Adam dared to break the silence by asking:

—There was an 'Ascent' on the floors below?"

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—No...—the giant head replied, looking carefully at Adam. It seemed to doubt something.

—Then, may I go down?—Adam asked uncomfortably; this kind of giant heads always brought bad memories to him.

—Of course!—the giant head replied in a military tone, disappearing into the marble of the stairs.

Adam tried to go down the stairs, but a guard approached him and asked:

—Could you show me your identification card, kid? It's not normal to see the General's face.

Adam became quite nervous; his hands trembled as he searched for the card and handed it to the guard. It was the first time he had given it to a guard.

The guards noticed Adam's nervousness and became nervous themselves.

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, as if not wanting to make a mistake.

—Is something strange, rookie?—another guard asked, waiting for a response.

—64341 is his identification number—the rookie guard replied, looking at Adam's white robes.

—That number is quite old... over 500 years old—another guard responded, seeming to be the leader or the one with the highest rank among the four guards —He must be a reincarnate, let him pass: I don't want any trouble!

—But his robes are white, and he must be nearly 20 years old by now—the rookie guard said, holding Adam's ID suspiciously.

Adam was super-nervous and became even more nervous as they talked about him.

—Yes, that's quite strange: Good observation, rookie!—the leader said, taking out a red book from his waist —Please, put your finger on this book, sir.

A bit calmer now, Adam placed his finger on the book. If the identification worked like the bank, it should go smoothly. And indeed, Adam's data appeared in the book.

—Apologies for the inconvenience, but it's rare to see the General...—the leader replied, seeing that the data in the book matched the data on the identification card. But just to be sure, he looked Adam up and down; the leader didn't want to let any creature sneak through the stairs on his watch.

While the leader inspected Adam, he looked into the young redhead's eyes and kept staring at them... for a few minutes.

The rookie guard noticed the abnormal state of the leader and quickly opened the red book on his waist to recite a page of the book out loud:

—What agony, what weariness, what a heavy day this is!!

*Puff*... Immediately, Adam fell to the ground, sticking to it. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move a muscle; it felt as if something immense was crushing his back.

The guard who had recited the page approached the leader, put his hand on his shoulder, and commented with concern:

—The redhead is an evil creature; he was hypnotizing you a moment ago.

—He's not, idiot...—the leader replied angrily, massaging his forehead; he seemed to have a headache —Seems like the 20-year-old boy saved half a floor in his previous life... Release him and let him go, I don't want any trouble.

The rookie guard followed the order quickly, closing his red book, allowing Adam to break free from the abnormal state and descend the stairs.

Adam didn't quite understand what had happened and asked his godfather about it on his way. The young man didn't want any more trouble with the guards.

His godfather replied:

'It could be that you have too much positive karma and it's causing some alteration in your body.

Having so much good karma is extremely rare; nevertheless, you were considered a hero before, and you grew up with the fear of not being able to enter the old eyeless man's cave anymore, which is why your bad actions were nonexistent.

Although the truth is, I don't know how good the effect of the mask is; I could never put it on, but I do know that the more complicated the conditions are to obtain something, the better effects the bookshelves can offer you. That's why they tend to make your life complicated...

Just in case, check your eyes when you have the opportunity. If I'm not mistaken, your eyes should have some white flickering in the pupils, like stars. The flickering is quite noticeable, so there's no way to miss it.'