Archie and his mother walked out of the front doors of the library, heading down to her car. Archie had a smile on his face as he walked, knowing that he now had a system. They got into the car, and instead of driving home, his mother handed him the notebook and the pen. "I want you to tell me how you entered that room and why you read that book. I don't want you to lie to me. Tell me the truth, I promise I won't be mad." His mother told him, and Archie could immediately smell the lies that were in her voice. However, it wasn't like he had much of a choice.
So, with a slightly unsteady hand, he wrote about the events that had happened. His memory was still slightly foggy after blacking out, but he was able to recall most of it. Everything from walking into the place up until he read The System Of Silence. He couldn't remember anything about that for the life of him. "So, you're telling me that you went into a room that you weren't supposed to, and opened a book with a different name structure than all of the other books there?" Archie's mother tried to understand. "That room had never been there before, so you were curious about its sudden appearance?" She continued as Archie nodded his head.
"I want to blame you for this, but I can't. I would've done the exact same thing if I was there. I wouldn't have gotten a system since I already have one, but I still would have tried to read the books there. Still, it sucks that you had to read a system-giving book which has a downside along with the bonuses." His mother sighed, before starting up the car. "Go to sleep when we get home. If anyone asks, tell them you're seeing how many days you can go without saying a word. We'll explain the situation to your siblings, and your father, tomorrow. Nobody else needs to know, okay?" She confirms with him, and Archie just nodded his head in response. After all, that was all he could do.
Within five minutes, they were back to their house. Archie opened the door, realising that it was unlocked. "I rushed here a few hours ago after the librarian used your phone to call me. It was a miracle that you didn't have any kind of verification needed to get into your phone. We waiting for around five hours for you to wake up. I was surprised that Ms Green stayed for that long. I guess she was worried for your safety." His mother admitted while walking through the front door.
Archie had never realised just how much his mother cared for him. He walked through the front door of the house, noticing a distinct lack of traps. "I tell Lauren to disable those traps of hers at night. I don't want to be going to the toilet and suddenly fall down a pitfall." His mother explained, noticing Archie's distinct shock at not having to step carefully around the house. "Go on. Up to bed with you."
Archie nodded, a small smile on his face as he finally realised that parents usually do care about their children. He walked up the stairs with caution as to not awaken his siblings, his pen and notebook still in his hand. He opened the door to his room, noticing a familiar figure sitting on his bed, her system abilities not active. "So, where were you, eh? What happened to returning before dinner?" Jess questioned him, walking over to her brother, who pointed towards his notepad using his pen and flipped to the page where it detailed what had happened.
After a good five minutes of silence, Archie walking over to his bed and lying down, the realisation finally hit Jess. "You WHAT?!" She exclaimed, Archie putting a finger to his lips in a motion that basically told her to shut up as he widened his eyes, showcasing his seriousness. This shocked Jess, as she had thought that he'd at least make a noise similar to a shushing. "Sorry, I just can't believe that you supposedly have a system. Even further, you can't speak." Jess admitted, and Archie sat up on his bed, lifting his arm out to the side. 'Silence Sword, activate!' He yelled out in his mind. The metal handle suddenly formed in his palm, and he grabbed it. The dark blue blade formed from its guard, shocking Jess. "Holy shit." Jess swore in awe.
Archie tossed the blade over to her, but as the handle touched her skin, it seemed to teleport back towards him. It appeared in his hand immediately after it touched her hand. 'I guess this is a failsafe to stop someone from stealing my blade.' Archie thought to himself. "Well, I didn't expect that. I guess you can't give your weapon to anyone else." Jess sighed, sitting in the ground as she looked at Archie with a confused expression. "A book gave you powers, and now you can do stuff like that? That's honestly amazing. What else can it do?" Jess asked Archie, who pointed over towards the pen and the notebook. "Oh, yeah. I forgot." Jess said as she smacked her forehead lightly.
She brought the pen and the notebook over to Archie, who began to write out one of the new features he unlocked. He handed the notebook to Jess, who read his statement out loud. "I got something called a Quest Board. Do you have something similar to that?" Jessica read before looking at him with a confused expression. "You mean to tell me that your system rewards you for doing tasks that it sets? That sounds amazing! What kind of system did you stumble on?" She asked in amazement while handing the notebook to Archie.
"The kind that took his voice away." Archie's mother said as she stood in the open doorway of his room. "You keep forgetting to lock your door, Archie."
Archie exhaled, no noise passing through his lips. "So, what should I do about this new system in school tomorrow?" Archie wrote on his notebook, which Jess read out loud. "Pretend nothing has changed. I'll talk to the principal tomorrow to make sure that nobody figures out that you have a system now. All you have to do is pretend that you don't have one, and everything will be fine." Archie's mother explained, a smile brewing on Archie's face. "Now, both of you, go to sleep."
Archie nodded, leaving his notebook and pen on his bedside locker as he got into a set of pajamas, sliding into his bed with the smile still on his face. As he was falling asleep, he got a notification from The System Of Silence, otherwise just referred to as "The System".
[New Quest: Make it through the following schooldays without arousing any suspicion.]
[Reward For Completion: +1 Status Point Enhancer (SPE)]