Chapter 59: Bob’s New Ability, and Attack

My ability was now rank A. The system didn’t state how many liters of stuff I could carry, but it was way more than before. Probably so much that the system didn’t feel like sharing the information with me.

The changes weren’t just that I could store more or control the inside of my pocket dimension, turning them into a private world. I could now store more attacks compared to before. Stronger attacks too!

And apparently my cube was much stronger now too, so all of my attacks and defenses had been improved, though I still had to test it in battle to be sure.

Anyway, we all parted ways and started looking through the books in that restricted section, searching for anything related to demons.

There was a whole bookshelf about them... We didn’t even need to search much to find the information we needed.

But we had to actually read it, and that would take time, which we didn’t have. Bob, once again, came to my rescue.

He let me know he wanted to leave the pocket dimension. No words, just a feeling, as we could only talk when he was wrapped around my head like a helmet.

Seeing how Ethan and Tom already knew about the little creature, I saw no point in hiding him, so I let Bob leave the pocket dimension.

They were quite surprised to see Bob appear out of nowhere, but it only lasted a second.

He then jumped onto my head again, becoming a helmet.

"I can devour the books and make copies for you, so you can read them elsewhere. You can’t stay inside this place for long periods," Bob said.

That was fucking awesome. Like, pretty fucking OP.

"Can you devour everything from this place and make copies? I want to read the other stuff too."

"Yes, I can. Wait a moment and let me do the job. But you’ll have to repay me with food later, or I’ll get pissed and attack you like last time."

I remembered when he turned red and grew those sharp teeth...

"No problem, I’ll get you crystals."

That whole conversation happened mentally, so Tom and Ethan had no idea what was going on. When they saw Bob eat one of the books, they screamed.

"Hey, didn’t your slime just eat one of the books? What the fuck are we going to do? They will notice the book is missing..." Tom pointed out.

But then Bob threw up two books instead of just one! One looked exactly like the original, while the other was more like a book made of slime. But it was pretty much the same, considering the contents. Easy to read and all.

"No way... Where did you find this creature? I want one too!" Tom said.

Tom was definitely imagining having a slime like Bob and copying all the books from the library, so he wouldn’t have to deal with the time limit to read said books. It was like a dream for a nerdy guy like him.

Bob didn’t stop at just the bookshelf with the demon-related books. The little guy ate all the books inside the restricted section, and then I stored all the copies inside my pocket dimension.

We put everything back in place, making sure no one would spot the difference. The last thing we wanted was for them to know we had been there.

"Let’s leave before the librarian comes back again," I said.

Ethan made us invisible again, and we left through the same tunnel as before. Before opening the passage, I stopped and listened to everything that was going on inside the library, just to be sure no one was there. It sounded empty.

"I think it’s empty."

We opened the passage, then closed it right after. Then we went downstairs to the library’s first floor. No one was there, not even the librarian. Maybe he was going after Zeph to see if the man had pranked him, or maybe Frederic called him to that meeting with the other teachers.

Either way, that gave us a clear path out of the academy’s main building. Right before we left the main building, Ethan deactivated the invisibility. A few moments after we left, Zeph showed up with the librarian.

The librarian looked quite pissed.

"Hey, you," he said, looking at us. "This student says you were inside the library and attacked him. Is that true?"

I took the lead.

"We were in the library earlier, yes, but he wasn’t there. We just read a book about alchemy that we were looking for, and then we left. You can ask the principal about it, as he let us use the library."

There were no cameras inside the library, I believe. So it was just our word against his. The librarian was about to call Frederic, but Frederic showed up in the courtyard.

"Did you find the book you were looking for, Vincent?" he said to me.

"Yeah, we did. We’re just heading back to the dorm now."

The librarian angrily stared at Zeph, not taking him seriously anymore.

"Sir," the librarian said to Frederic, "I’ll return to the library now, if you allow me."

"Yes, you can go. If I need to tell you anything, I’ll ask for another private meeting or text you."

Frederic wanted to talk to us about something in private, so he told Zeph with an authoritative tone, "Return to your dorm, now."

Zeph was really pissed and wanted to cry about how I attacked him, but in front of the principal, he didn’t utter a word and just left. I felt so good seeing that.

Once we were alone, I was hoping to have a good conversation with Frederic, but no, things weren’t as good as I thought...

"I know you accessed the restricted section of the library," Frederic said. "Not even the librarian knows for sure, but I have my ways of finding out."

All of our smiles and happy faces vanished the moment he said that.

"Don’t get me wrong. I won’t punish you, this time. You were looking for information about the demons, right? I don’t think you found much, seeing how quickly you left the library. You must have read half a book at most..." Frederic sighed. "Look, let the adults handle this matter, alright? And don’t fucking enter the restricted section again. It’s restricted for a reason. I can’t protect you any longer, Vincent."

He wasn’t wrong. Frederic had saved my ass multiple times at that point... I still didn’t know the reason behind it, but my instincts were telling me it wasn’t because he was a good guy or because he liked me.

"We won’t enter again, sir," I said. "Sorry for that. If you want to punish us for this, then do it. I don’t want to keep owing you for getting me out of trouble every time."

Ethan and Tom looked at me the moment I said that. It was like they were thinking, ’He let us go, so why is he saying this shit about punishment?’

Frederic already had something in mind, it seemed.

"I’ve heard you are going to explore the new continent soon, but I also want your help exploring that weird rift with the... you know, that creature we talked about. Can I count on you to join this special task force in the future? Especially considering your unique abilities."

He wanted to use my pocket dimension so everyone could explore the rift without the time limit. I had already guessed that shit. Frederic wasn’t stupid, and neither was Lion Heart. They just wanted to control me and use my power to their advantage.

But in that situation, I couldn’t say no. At least not yet.

"Yes, I’ll help you. If I survive the exploration of that new continent, that is," I said. "You know it will be dangerous."

I already said I would help him with that, but there he was, asking me to go again. What the fuck was that rift and that weird eye anyway? Frederic was always trying to get me to admit I would go there with this task force of his. I was starting to think I would die if I went there or some shit...

"Go to your dorm now," he said, "and there won’t be any classes for three days until we make sure the demon isn’t near the academy. I’ll warn all the students tomorrow morning."

We nodded and returned to the dorm. Tom went to another room, as he wasn’t my roommate. He kept crying for one of the books to read, but I didn’t give him one.

"Ethan and I will read them inside my dimension, since it’s safer. You can read with us tomorrow, alright?"

Tom agreed, against his will. "Okay... See you guys tomorrow, then."

We saw as he walked through the academy corridor with his gaze down, looking hella depressed for not getting a book. Such a nerd.

Once Ethan and I were in our room, I pulled him into the pocket dimension. We sat by the lake and picked two books about demons to read. Ethan stared at the other books from the restricted section.

"You won’t read those," I said.

"I know, I’m just curious."

I would be the only one reading those. Of that, I was sure.

We focused on the demon-related books, reading as many as we could over the next few days. Then, something unexpected happened at the academy.

Powerful attacks hit the academy’s defenses during the night. Screams rang out from everywhere.

"We’re under attack!"