Chương 16: Locked Books

Max woke up and still couldn't find Ryan. He muttered the words from his system book, and it appeared immediately.

Max opened the book to check the daily tasks for more Experience Points. Thinking of experience points, a message greeted him.

< 7 Exp rewarded for completing a daily task >

< Exp: 7/100 >

According to the book, the daily task Max completed was sleeping for seven hours. If Max had slept for ten hours, his reward would've been 10 Experience Points.

Classes were starting next week, so Max wasn't surprised that James and Caleb were still asleep.

He went to the bathroom to freshen up, then he gazed out of the window at the school premises with a cup of steaming coffee in his hand.

Few minutes later, James woke up after smelling the coffee. He checked his wrist, and there were still no points rewarded. According to the school's announcement, points would be rewarded daily as from next week.

"Hey Max!" James greeted as he got up from his bed.

"Hey James! You're awake."

"Yeah, I am. And you've got a cup of coffee. Can you order one for me? I promise to pay you back next week."

Max grinned and pointed to the side of James' bed. When James turned to look, he saw a steaming cup of coffee.

"Did you order that?" said James as he picked it up and took a sip.

Max nodded with a smile. He had even ordered a cup for Caleb, who was still fast asleep.

For students who don't have points or don't want to order, they can go to the school canteen to grab their own coffees. Max was left with just 4 game points and hoped to spend them wisely. He had to save up to 200 game points so he could access the two books he saw in the library yesterday.

While Max gazed out the window, he noticed that many students were already exploring the school premises. Even though Max was on the third floor, his unique ability allowed him to see everything and everyone clearly.

Max still hadn't unfold the full extent of his inspection ability. The few facts he had come to know were that he could see in the dark and from afar as it seems. He wondered what other surprises awaited him.

'If only I could access that book, things would have been easier,' Max thought, thinking about the book that talks about the Ranks of Vision Ability.

As he continued to gaze outside the window, a familiar face caught his eye: Bella, the girl who had assisted him in reaching the hospital the previous day.

"I'll be right back," Max told James as he left the room. He quickly made his way to the elevator and descended to the ground floor.

Upon exiting the building, Max discovered that Bella was no longer within sight. Even with his enhanced vision, he couldn't spot her.

"Where could she have gone?" Max wondered aloud, his steps carrying him around the premises.

Soon, he noticed students leaving the school grounds through the gates and the soldiers were not stopping them.

"Could we go out as well?" Max pondered, although that wasn't his primary reason for coming outside.

As Max was about to head back inside, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Quickly turning around, he found Finn and his two roommates standing there.

"Max, how are you doing?" Finn greeted.

"I'm good."

"I don't think I've properly introduced you to my roommates yet, have I? Well, meet Luke and Henry. Luke and Henry, this is Max."

"Yeah, their group collided with ours during the tour." Said Luke.

"We won the spar though," Henry boasted with a smirk.

Finn leaned over to Max, "Did you notice? Jacob was one of the new recruits yesterday."

Max nodded, "Yeah, I spotted him too."

While Max, Finn, and his roommates were engaged in their discussion, Max noticed Bella heading back into the building.

"I'll catch up with you guys later," Max said as he decided to follow Bella.

He trailed Bella, watching as she entered the library. Max had also wanted to visit the library, so it worked out well.

However, just as Max was about to approach Bella, he noticed her deep in conversation with Jacob. Quickly, he hid himself from view, not wanting Jacob to see him.

Max's curiosity nagged at him, wondering what Bella and Jacob were discussing. Yet, he chose to let it be for now. He headed towards the demon books session, where he intended to continue his studies about the 'Sons of Darkness'. However, he notice the absence of the book among the others.

Frustration began to well up inside him. "Where is it?" Max muttered, his fingers skimming through the volumes on the shelf. After a thorough search, he finally spotted the book hidden within one of the locked boxes.

"But it was outside yesterday," he mumbled angrily to himself. It made no sense that the book had now been confined to a box.

As Max pondered this oddity, a realization struck him. It seemed that the most significant books, the ones with a deeper and more profound reality, were the ones that were kept locked away.

The fact that the Book had been placed inside a locked box suggested it held vital informations, and it only intensified Max's need to access it. "Did someone realize its value after I read it?" Max pondered aloud, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Since Max couldn't access the locked book, and he didn't have many experience points left to inspect other books, he decided to shift his focus to Bella.

Wanting to avoid appearing like he was stalking her, Max selected a random book from the nearby shelves and pretended to read while sneakily keeping an eye on Bella.

A few minutes later, Jacob exited the library. Max watched him leave just to make sure that he was gone, but when he turned his gaze back to Bella, she had vanished from where she had been standing.

Max dropped the book he had been using to hide his peeping and muttered, "Where did she go?"

"I'm here," a voice echoed from behind him.

Startled by the familiar voiced, Max turned around slowly, and there stood Bella.