Then, Adam looked at the two young boys who stared at him in fear, leaving him stunned for a moment. After a few seconds of this awkward stare, their fearful expressions turned to bewilderment, and they kept staring at Adam for quite some time.

Realizing what was happening, Adam reached for his glasses on his desk and put them on. As soon as Adam looked away, the two boys rubbed their foreheads with some discomfort.

Over the years, Adam had discovered that his karma was what was considered the second stage of positive karma, causing his eyes to turn silver white. At this level of karma, he could defend himself by stunning others if he made eye contact with them, while in the third stage, he would lose his shadow, and from there, there were no records of further physical changes or effects.

On the contrary, the path of negative karma began with black specks around the eyes, and in the second stage, the eyes turned black, but nothing else happened at that point. In the third stage of negative karma, one also lost their shadow and gained something similar to Adam's effect, but causing fear in others just by hearing them speak.

According to general knowledge books, another effect that arose in the third stage was that your mind would start to distort due to your karma. In other words, you would seek to be bad, and as a result, you would act in a naturally bad way and start to abhor those who acted in a good manner. In the fourth stage of negative karma, your shadow turned red, but there was no mention of the effects. Additionally, from that point on, there were no records in books about further physical changes or effects.

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Seeing that the children's expressions returned to normal, Adam asked:

—Which one of you is Apolo, and who is Hermes? They asked me to take you to buy sweets at the market upstairs.

—I'm Hermes!— said the boy who had smacked Adam on the head not long ago.

—Apolo...— said the freckled boy, who had run towards the cave wall.

—Shouldn't a mannequin take us to the candy store?— Hermes asked suspiciously, looking at Adam from a distance.

The eyeless old man reappeared on the wall and shouted angrily:

—No, mannequins can't go upstairs; they would draw too much attention! Upstairs is safer than the lower floors, you don't need them! Now, leave already, you brats!

The eyeless old man disappeared and reappeared next to Adam, shouting even louder:

—Get to work and take them out of my cave! The kids will help you blend in better on your mission. Buy them candies: I don't want any trouble with my new contacts.

Angered by the shouting, Adam led the way up the rotten steps to the upper floor. Before leaving, he handed each boy an identification card and gave them instructions:

—First, we'll go to the third floor and find a bookshelf to which I have to deliver something. Then, we'll get your candies at the market. Don't stare at the guards too much, but if they appear, just show them the card and put your finger on the notebook they'll give you.

With some distrust, the two boys nodded and looked expectantly at the stone wall that was about to open, revealing the wooden floors.