The next morning, sunlight filtered through Arjun’s window, casting a warm glow on the desk cluttered with notes, books, and his laptop. His eyes, however, were fixed on the ancient box he had taken from the bunker. The intricate carvings of Indus Valley symbols stared back at him, their meaning elusive yet oddly familiar.

He ran his fingers over the surface, feeling the rough texture of the centuries-old wood. Taking a deep breath, he opened his laptop and began cross-referencing the carvings with his research materials. His thesis focused on deciphering lesser-known symbols from the Indus Valley Civilization, and this box seemed to hold clues that no one had uncovered before.

A knock on his door snapped him out of his thoughts. Rohan and Kabir walked in, looking well-rested but equally eager.

"Morning, Professor," Rohan teased, eyeing the mess on Arjun’s desk. "Found anything earth-shattering yet?"

Arjun smirked. "Not yet. But this box... it’s something special. The carvings match a pattern I’ve seen in old manuscripts, but there’s something off. It’s like it's part of a bigger puzzle."

Kabir leaned in, inspecting the box. "And how exactly do we open it? Don’t tell me it’s locked by some ancient curse or something."

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Arjun chuckled. "No curses, but it does have a sliding mechanism. I think I need to align these symbols correctly."

Rohan stretched and plopped onto the bed. "Go on, nerd. Do your thing."

Arjun carefully adjusted the symbols, his mind racing through possibilities. With a soft click, the lid shifted, revealing a delicate cloth wrapping a series of clay tablets, inscribed with what appeared to be an unbroken Indus script.

Kabir whistled. "Whoa. This looks serious. Can you read any of it?"

Arjun’s heart pounded. "Not entirely, but some of these symbols... they resemble what I’ve been working on. Give me some time."

Rohan, growing restless, grabbed an apple from Arjun’s desk. "Yeah, yeah, take all the time you need. Just don’t forget we have actual college work to do too."

Kabir smirked. "Says the guy who skips half his classes to play sports."

As Arjun dived into analyzing the script, Kabir pulled out his laptop and started searching for any records of missing artifacts matching their discovery. Rohan, on the other hand, paced the room, his mind clearly elsewhere.

"Guys," Rohan finally said, tossing the apple core into the trash. "We need to figure out if anyone else knows about that bunker. If someone went through all that trouble to hide these artifacts, they won’t be happy we found them."

Kabir nodded. "Agreed. I’ll check for any suspicious activity around that mill. Might be something in the local news archives."

Arjun, lost in thought, murmured, "We need to be careful. If this is a smuggling operation, they could still be around."

A tense silence followed, each of them realizing the potential trouble they were in.

Finally, Rohan clapped his hands. "Alright, enough brooding. Let’s head to college before someone starts asking questions."

Arjun carefully packed the artifacts back into the box and secured it in his backpack. As they made their way out, Arjun couldn't shake the feeling that they had stumbled onto something much bigger than they could comprehend.

And somehow, deep down, he knew that their adventure was just beginning.