Chapter 18 Error! Error! Error!
A notification suddenly popped up in the status bar in his mind as,
[ New Challenge: Read all the books inside this library within a week ]
[ Reward: 100 experienced points ]
[ Penalty: 15 experienced points will be deducted from the Host's Intelligence points ]
On seeing the reward of the new challenge, Bobby's lips spread up and almost made a smile, but abruptly changed to a frown. "What! Deduct 15 experienced points from my intelligence. Hmm," He thought in his mind and began cursing in his mind, "what the fuck is it playing with me this time?! Fine, this is even better. At least, it is reminding me that nothing is for free in this world."
He then murmured, "This is great. No pain, no gain, anyway. Hahaha.." He then started laughing but the next moment he stopped and asked himself in his mind, "Why do I have the feeling that this thing inside my head is using me? …..Whatever, let's have some mutual benefits for now. At least, it has given me a new lease on my life and totally changed me. But, does it think that I am dense enough to have loyalty to it? Nah, it chooses me because I might have something it wants from me."
"Bobby," Diana called again while shaking his body and continued, "you are spacing out again. What are you thinking about?"
" Nothing important that you should know about," Bobby responded.
"Alright, come, you have lots to read today." She then held his hand and pulled him toward a particular column of bookshelf with the title 'VAMPIRIC LORE' on it.
"Diana, I see five other such columns without any name tags. Are they about vampires, too?" Bobby asked curiously while looking at them.
"No, those five bookshelves columns are records for the other five Ancient Families," Diana replied.
Then, when she saw the curious look on Bobby's face, she continued, "Hey, it's a long story. We shall catch up regarding those families some other day. For now, you need to learn about vampires."
She then took out a book with the title 'The Beginner's Guide for Vampire' and then passed it to Bobby.
Then both of them sat down on the nearby reading chairs.
Bobby kept it on the table before him and opened the thick cover of the book.
The book contained the details of the Vampires' blood lust, how to suck blood from prey and last, some do's and don'ts while feeding and how to blend in among common folks. Bobby flipped them page by page. It took a single glance for him to memorize all the details, also took a few seconds to analyze, and comprehend them in his head, as it had something to do with the increase in his intelligence points.
Diana was also aware of his action and asked with confusion, "Bobby, don't you want to read it?" and she murmured, "It's weird. I always find him reading books in his free time at University. But, why?.... Perhaps, his habits of bookworm personality also change with him turning into a vampire." f𝘳𝚎𝑒𝚠𝑒𝚋𝘯o𝘃eƖ.co𝓂
Bobby didn't reply to her, as he was engrossed in reading the book. After five minutes, he finally completed reading the last page of the thick book. He then covered up the book and asked while turning at her, "Did you just say something to me?"
"Bobby, I know that you love reading books. But, umm…..don't you find it interesting to read such kinds of books? I saw you just flipped the pages." Diana said.
"Oh, about that. Don't worry. I have just read and memorized the whole book." Bobby responded casually. Diana looked at him weirdly. Disbelief, amazement, and bewilderment were shown all over her face.
Bobby asked, "Diana, do you have the digital copies of all of these books here in you? I shall read them afterward."
"Nope, it is forbidden and extremely against the family's rules. So, you can only read them in books." Diana responded.
Bobby responded, "Oh," he then thought deeply and suggested in a hushed tone, "Well, Diana, it will be a problem for me to bring all these books with me and I am really eager to read them soon. How about these? I shall let my AI pod copy all of them. Um... I give you my word, I will keep this secret in my grave and it will never reach a second ear."
A sly smile appeared on her face and she replied, "Okay, " and she spoke in her mind, " ….heeheehee! as if you can. "
Bobby took out his pair of glasses from inside his pant pocket and put them on. He then took out the Ball-shaped AI pod from inside his fancy backpack. After that, he clicked on the tiny button on the frame of the pair of glasses, thereby activating the power of the AI pod.
The AI pod flew up and spoke in a female voice, "Greetings, Master Bobby! What can I do for you?"
"Lucia, scan all the books inside this hall using your God's Eyes Mode and copy them in order," Bobby commanded.
"Your voice is matched. Initiating the God's Eyes Mode!" The AI pod spoke. f𝐫ee𝘄ℯ𝚋no𝐯𝐞l.c𝘰m
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"God's Eyes Mode is ready." The AI pod spoke and flew toward the bookshelf and started scanning all the books on it.
"Error! Error! Error!... Nothing is written in here." The AI pod spoke.
Bobby stood up and rushed toward it and asked, "What do you mean? "
"Master Bobby, the contents of the books are all blank. I find nothing." The AI reported.
Bobby frowned. He then picked up a book and opened it, and said, "See this, try scanning it again. " He showed the page before the AI pod. The AI pod scanned it again and reported again, "The page is black."
"What the hell!! " He exclaimed and said softly, "Something must be wrong with Lucia. I must check up on her mainframe programs later on."
"There is nothing wrong with your AI pod. " Diana spoke while walking toward him.
Bobby looked at her meaningfully.
"Alright, I will tell you everything. There is a second reason for not having digital copies of all of these books. Do you want to know about it?" Diana asked slyly.
"Okay, I am listening," Bobby responded.
"That's because we don't have any advance technology for copying the contents of these books here," Diana said at last.
"What!" Bobby exclaimed.