Adam continued down the marble stairs to the first middle floor and headed to the cave. The young man was a bit nervous and walked quickly through the aisles, trying to avoid people's gaze.

Upon reaching the hallway where the cave was located, Adam finally calmed down. To his surprise, the old man with no eyes did not form in his bookshelf to greet him as he had done every day since he obtained the book with human skin.

Since the old man didn't appear, Adam picked up one of the books from the shelves; it was the old method he hadn't used in a while.

The head of the eyeless old man stayed there for a while, cautious, and asked gruffly:

—Are you going to read it, or are you just going to stare at me as if I owe you something?

—All I want is to get back home!—Adam yelled annoyed. It seemed like the mask hadn't solved anything; the bookshelf kept insisting he should read the book.

But before the eyeless old man could respond, a face formed on the neighboring bookshelf. Adam was surprised; in all his years living in the cave, this was the first time he saw the neighbor of the eyeless old man: his head had the haircut of a monk, also known as a tonsure. Moreover, the face of the bookshelf was complete, which was quite rare for the bookshelves. When it finished forming, the monk said:

—Oh, kind-hearted brother, don't trust that eyeless old man: His heart is as rotten as the planks forming his shelves!

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Adam had no idea that bookshelves could sabotage each other in this way. He had never told the eyeless old man that he knew the effect of the book, so he was eager to see what the old man would do.

The eyeless old man deliberately ignored the monk and said with a bitter voice:

—If you fail, I'll turn you into one of my mushrooms, but you only have to answer one of my questions and you can read my magical books.

Adam stared at the eyeless old man, not understanding why he was explaining his rule.

—It's the boy who lives in your cave, you useless old man!—The monk shouted angrily.

—Adam?—Eyes emerged from the face of the old man and looked at Adam for a few minutes, as if trying to find a flaw in the outsider's trick.

—Are you going to let me pass?—Adam asked impatiently.

—No, you cannot pass...—The eyeless old man responded, looking at Adam suspiciously—Mmmm, yes... Actually, you can pass. It's quite surprising, but you didn't read any magical book.

—It's me, old man, of course I didn't read anything—Adam replied annoyed.

—Adam?—The old man said, looking the redhead up and down—Did the baron's little book houses burn down and you jumped into the fire to save them? Or what happened?

—I'll tell you what happened... —Adam replied —If you tell me the effect of the first magical book that I made you win

—Go on in!—The eyeless old man responded angrily, opening the door. It seemed like he didn't want to argue in front of the monk.

Adam proceeded to enter, but before he could, the monk mentioned in a melodic voice:

—The book that the eyeless old man wants you to read has a bad appearance and a "bad appearance" means bad reading.

As he said those words, the monk submerged back into the wood. Adam was surprised; that was a very useful tip he didn't know. The young hero thanked the monk's bookshelf and entered the cave.