Chapitre 8: You've Unlocked A New Ability

"WOW!!" James exclaimed. "An entire chicken costs just two points. There's even a bottle of champagne for just three points. Dudes, I'm on it!"

Max was headed to the bathroom when he froze in his steps upon hearing James. It wasn't the prices that made Max freeze; it was the fact that James wanted to order an entire chicken.

"What are you going to do with a whole chicken? And why would the school even have wine on the menu?" Max asked.

"Relax, dude. The wines are all non-alcoholic. And as for the whole chicken, I'm a glutton for chickens."

Max just shook his head and entered the bathroom. He wanted to freshen up but wasn't entirely sure how to handle the suit. Soon, a notification buzzed on his wrist, and he looked at it.

[Suit Unlock]

Max read the message carefully and chose the 'Entirely' option. As soon as he pressed the option, the Star-war ranger suit began to retract, finally transforming into a bag hanging on his back.

'So the entire suit was a mechanized retractable bag,' Max mumbled, impressed by how advanced technology had become.

He slowly pulled the bag and hung it near the bathroom window. However, one thing hadn't retracted with the suit. The screen on his wrist remained as a wristwatch. He wondered if the watch was water-resistant, as he was about to enter the bathtub with it.

Max waited for a notification that would guide him on how to remove the watch, but there was nothing to instruct him.

Finally, he entered the bathtub, relaxing as the warm water flowed continuously from the tap. With his eyes closed, Max began to reflect on everything that had happened so far.

His thoughts started from when Ivy asked if they were friends now, then they took him back to when she left the hall. Even if Ivy had stayed, she still wouldn't have been given a system book. It all started to make sense why Ivy's parents didn't get a system book for her; it was because they didn't know what kind of ability she might acquire in the future.

Thinking of how lame that procedure was, Max's mind raced back to the creepy system book he could've gotten even though he was a plain user. He found himself wishing he could turn back time. Lost in thought, he voiced out loud.

"Thousand Pages Of Death, huh?" He chuckled.

But just like back in his bedroom, the lights went out. "HAA!!!" Max shouted faintly, trying not to get the attention of James and Caleb.

The bathroom was completely dark and the only light source was his suit bag that glowed orange. He was hoping that the Demon was here, and at the same time, he just wished that it wasn't what he was thinking.

He gently got to his feet and picked up the suit bag, using its orange glow to locate the light switch. Soon, he spotted a switch beside the door. With his eyes shut, Max turned on the lights, half expecting Ryan to be standing there.

After a few seconds of light, there was no sign of anything, and Max slowly opened his eyes. The demon was nowhere in sight. A great sigh of relief escaped Max's lips. Just as he decided to return to the bathtub, he saw Ryan lying in it.

"HAAAA!!!" Max screamed at the top of his voice. This time, the shout was loud enough to be heard by James and even Caleb, whom Max had assumed was deaf.

Immediately, James approached the door and asked Max if he was okay. At first Max wanted to scream NO, but then he realized that he had silently yarned for Ryan to be here.

Max would've just uttered the words again when the lights went out, but he didn't because he wanted a situation like this. Ryan's body wasn't getting soaked by the water in the bathtub, but he was just there for fun.

"Why aren't you stopping me from screaming?" Max asked. Unlike the previous time, Ryan had knocked him unconscious.

In response, Ryan countered with a question. "Why aren't you screaming?"

He tried to came up with an excuse, but nothing came out expect babbling lies that Ryan noticed.

Seeing Max struggle for an excuse, Ryan sighed. "Never mind. So, why did you summon me?"

"Summon you? No, I didn't. It was just a slip of the tongue."

"Then why didn't you say the words again?" Ryan asked.

And once again, Max was faced with another probing question for which he had no answer. The truth was that Max knew the reasons, but he didn't want to hurt his pride by admitting that he had considered accepting the deal.

"I'm bored here. Perhaps I should just return to my creepy, old system book!" Ryan muttered angrily. He was angry at Max for how he had disregarded him yesterday without giving him a chance to explain.

Just as Ryan was about to disappear, Max spoke up with an apologetic tone. "I'm sorry for yesterday. For how I neglected you."

As soon as Ryan heard those words, his mood brightened, and he grinned. "Oh! You've accepted the deal? That's great!"

"No, I haven't! Yes! No! I'm still contemplating," Max muttered as his decisions collided

"What's there to think about? Just accept the harmless deal, and it's a win-win," Ryan advised.

Max stared at Ryan intensely, and then he finally spoke up. "If you're not going to possess me in exchange for the book, then what do you stand to gain from this?"

"My bond with the 'Words' will be broken, although I can't go more than forty feet away from you. That's what I mean by 'bond for life.' You see, you're the one who benefits most from it."

"On one condition. You're not going to boss me around or ever knock me unconscious again."

With an assuring smile, Ryan murmured, "I cross my heart."

Max exhaled and decided to accept the deal since he had nothing to lose. Having an invisible demon lurking around was far better than having no ability or system book like others.

"Are you sure you're ready?"

Max exhaled again. "Woohoo! I've never been more sure and ready. Get on with it."

"Okay. And... it's done," Ryan murmured.

"What!" Max exclaimed. He had expected the procedure to be slightly painful and time-consuming, but he didn't even feel different. He doubted if the process of registering his DNA to the book had worked.

"The book is all yours."

Immediately, the creepy old book appeared in front of Max. He smiled and held it in his arms. He tried flipping it, but the passcode was still locked. As usual, Max assumed that nothing happened.

"Say the words and wait for it," Ryan declared.

"What words? 'Thousand Pages Of Death'?" Max asked Ryan. However, in that instant the book opened itself.

Max was confused; he had said those words before and the book had not opened, instead the words sent Ryan into the book and back out. So why now? He wondered.

"My bond to the 'Words' is broken, so the book will be obeying the 'words' instead. Say the words, and the book will obey you; say them again, and the book will disappear until you call for it again. And also, the book is invisible to humans," Ryan explained.

When the book opened, there were various messages that Max could barely understand. This wasn't how he had imagined the pages to be. However, among all of them, one message stood out.

[Congratulations! You're now the book's Wielder]

< You've unlocked a new ability >

< Rank: D1 > [Standard Ability User]

< Ability: Inspection > [No Upgrade on Vision Ability]

< AP: Rare >

"Inspection! What kind of ability is that?"

****

AP stands for Ability Popularity

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