Adam woke up early this morning to head to the market on the 3rd out of 5 floors, hexagon 9 of 18, before school starts.
As it was very early, the streets were somewhat empty, but not as much as when Adam was 10 years old. Since the ascension, the market and other hexagons on the 3rd and 5th floors were used as places to exchange information about the new secrets discovered on the 4th floor. Fortunately, the situation regarding thefts and disappearances wasn't as bad on these floors as it was on the 4th floor. Especially in the market, where order reigned firmly.
Adam was heading towards the eyeglass store. There was only one eyeglass store in the entire market, for some reason that Adam didn't know, and it was located in one of the inner hexagons of the labyrinth of painted walls that made up the market.
The young hero approached the store's painting and after a while, he arrived. Below the painting, there was a plaque that said 'Optician'. Adam, with anticipation, stretched his hand towards the painting and was sucked into it.
—Welcome to the 3rd floor of 5 in the middle, Hexagon 9 out of 18, Trader's store,— someone immediately said after the young man entered the store.
Adam turned around to see who had spoken to him. To his surprise, the voice came from a very cute white plush rabbit, which had a heart clutched to its chest with a name embroidered in the middle: 'Abel '
The plush rabbit noticed Adam's gaze and said in a squeaky voice:
—What service do you desire, hero?
—I'm looking for some glasses...— Adam responded in bewilderment, as he looked around the store.
The eyeglass store wasn't too big; its walls seemed to be made of tree bark, and the floor was covered with tiny stones scattered all over the surface. In the store, there were several strange devices, along with an examination table and a desk full of tools and drawers. Adam immediately perceived that the uneven floor was a bit uncomfortable to walk on with shoes and would probably be torture if someone were barefoot.
—Sit on the examination table, and the Trader will attend to you!— the plush rabbit responded enthusiastically.
Adam approached and sat on the examination table. Immediately after doing so, a man made of stone pebbles formed on the floor. The stone man was naked and had a face with only one eye in the middle and a mouth.
Once the stone man finished forming, he asked:
—Aren't you too young to need glasses, kid?
—I see well; I'm just looking for something to hide my eyes— Adam replied, looking curiously at the Trader. It seemed like this store belonged to the market's bookshelf, so he had to be careful.
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—Do you want to hide your karma? I can't do that...— the bookshelf responded, looking at Adam's silver eyes.
—I just want to hide my eyes from the librarians— Adam replied, choosing his words carefully.
—That's possible: shall we proceed?— asked the Trader with a smile on his face.
Adam didn't like the smile at all, so the redhead ignored the bookshelf's proposal and asked suspiciously:
—How much does it cost, and how do I pay?
—It depends on what things you want to add to your glasses— the Trader responded calmly —As for the payment, it's by answering questions or using clean character sheets.
—No riddles, just clean character sheets: how many things can I add to my glasses?— Adam asked with doubts.
The Trader looked at him for a few minutes and answered happily:
—Everything: each correctly answered question is a discount on a character sheet.
—What kind of character sheets, and how much would glasses that serve my purpose cost?— Adam asked cautiously.
—Only clean character sheets are accepted— the Trader replied, looking at him in a macabre way —One pair of glasses costs 10 character sheets, and an additional 100 sheets for each magical attribute added.
Adam stared at the bookshelf's smile for a few minutes and ended up summoning his godfather to ask why the prices were so cheap. There had to be something strange; the young redhead didn't come across so many people with magical glasses.
His godfather responded:
'Remember that the mindset of the bookshelf is tuned to another time when a miserable clean character sheet cost a life: like in my time...
Why people don't use these glasses could be due to several reasons: it might be a secret. There could be discounts based on your karma, or perhaps you're just richer than the average person on this floor (which is very likely, Adam)'
The young hero was afraid; he didn't want to approach a bookshelf without being prepared and wrote back to his godfather in sloppy handwriting: 'So, should I buy them or not? What's your advice?'
His godfather replied: 'I know the Trader never lies about his deals: So rob his shop, boy! Ask if he also sells magical books!'
Adam heard the advice, especially the part about not lying, and asked:
—How many magical attributes can I add to my glasses, and do you sell other things?
—You're a reborn, I see... that explains the eyes— the Trader responded with a smile, preparing the questions in his head —It's strange that you haven't gone to get your black robe yet; you should do it, or people will suspect you lost your memories. The baron's minions must be looking at you very fondly right now, hero.
Adam wasn't bothered by the Trader's confusion since, at the moment, he was eager to steal from this bookshelf's store.
The Trader approached the cabinet of instruments, took out a wooden board, and handed it to Adam, saying very calmly:
—I only sell glasses. Only one per person. Only once in a lifetime. Only 3 enchantments from this board can be placed on a pair of glasses. The cost of each enchantment is 100 clean character sheets, and I'll tell you the total to pay before I start working. If you fail one of my questions, you'll become one of the paintings on my hexagon's walls.
Upon hearing the answer, Adam lost his excitement, but he figured it made sense. After all, this was just another service offered on his journey to ascension. If he had a good chance of ascending and, therefore, found it easy to answer the bookshelf's questions, then the glasses were free. Otherwise, one had to trade to get the glasses: fulfilling the bookshelf's whim and the terms of the service.
Adam looked at the list for a long time and consulted with his godfather, who was more experienced and indicated that it could be useful for him in the future. The list, while not long, had 30 enchantments inscribed on the wood, so the possible combinations were not few, and Adam felt somewhat overwhelmed.