The silence in the lobby stretched for a long, breathless minute. Lyra and Silas were staring at the spot where the river of light had vanished, their minds struggling to catch up with the reality of what they had just witnessed. They had prepared for a battle against a god-like mage. They had braced for annihilation. What they had gotten instead was a hostile asset acquisition on a cosmic scale.
Leo, however, was not looking at the door. His eyes were glued to the glowing blue screen that only he could see, at the beautiful, five-digit number that pulsed with possibility.
[Current Value: 12,685 Units]
A laugh escaped his lips. It wasn't a chuckle; it was a loud, uninhibited bark of pure, joyous relief and disbelief. He threw his head back and laughed, the sound echoing in the grand, silent hall. It was the laugh of a man who had bet everything on a single, insane move and had just won the entire casino. All the tension, all the fear of the past week, evaporated in that one, cathartic moment.
"He paid," Leo gasped between laughs, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. "The bastard actually paid for damages!"
Silas finally shook his head as if to clear it. "Landlord," he said, his voice full of a new kind of reverence. "You didn't just win. You turned the most powerful Archmage in the kingdom into a delivery boy for… what did you call it? Value?"
"The best part of any deal," Leo said, his laughter subsiding into a wide, predatory grin, "is when the other party pays for the privilege of losing. Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe in reinvesting profits back into the business."
He felt a surge of ambition so powerful it was almost dizzying. He had the capital. He had the property. It was time for development. He strode past his two stunned tenants with a newfound purpose, his eyes already scanning the [Renovations] menu. The Ashen Baths? Tempting. A Training Hall? Practical. But his gaze was drawn, as if by magnetism, to the bottom of the list, to the option that pulsed with an ominous, violet light.
[Unseal Chamber 01 - Cost: 10,000 Value Units]
It was a massive expenditure, an almost reckless gamble. It would consume nearly all of his hard-won fortune. But Leo's career had been built on one simple principle: the highest risks yielded the highest rewards. He had just acquired a massive amount of capital by force. The smart move was to immediately leverage it to acquire an even greater asset.
"Guide," he said, his voice firm. "I want to open the Sealed Chamber."
Lyra and Silas, having followed him, looked at each other nervously. "Leo," Lyra began, using his name for the first time. "Are you sure? We don't know what's behind that door. It was sealed for a reason."
"Sealed things are valuable things," Leo replied, his eyes gleaming. "Confirm the purchase."
The system screen flashed. [Expend 10,000 Value Units to Unseal Chamber 01? This action is irreversible. Y/N]
Leo mentally selected 'Y' without a moment's hesitation.
[Confirmation received. Unsealing process initiated.]
The number at the top of his screen plummeted, leaving him with a comparatively paltry 2,685 units. A wave of energy, invisible but palpable, flowed from him and through the floorboards of the Inn, converging on the strange, rune-covered door at the back of the hall.
The violet runes on the stone door began to glow with a blinding intensity. The low hum it had been emitting rose to a deep, resonant thrum that vibrated through the soles of their feet. The shifting patterns locked into place one by one, each alignment accompanied by a loud, satisfying CLUNK that sounded like a colossal tumbler falling into place deep within the stone. After a final, deafening metallic clang, the light from the runes faded, and the humming ceased.
The ancient lock was disengaged.
A heavy silence descended once more. Leo looked at Lyra, then at Silas. Their apprehension was a living thing in the air. He gave them a reassuring nod, walked to the heavy stone door, placed his palms flat against its cold surface, and pushed.
It swung inward with a low groan, revealing the room beyond. It was a simple, circular chamber carved from the same dark stone. It was empty. There was no treasure hoard, no monster, no ancient spirit chained to the wall. There was only a thick carpet of dust on the floor and, in the precise center of the room, a single, elegant pedestal of black marble.
Resting on the pedestal was a book.
It was a large, heavy-looking tome, bound in a strange, scale-like black leather that seemed to drink the light. There was no title on its spine or cover. Instead, embossed in the center of the front cover was the image of a single, closed eye.
"That's it?" Silas whispered, a note of disappointment in his voice. "Ten thousand units for a book?"
Leo felt a flicker of doubt, but he pushed it aside and stepped into the chamber, his footsteps echoing softly. He approached the pedestal, his curiosity overriding his caution. The book just sat there, ancient and silent. He reached out a hand to touch it.
The eye on the cover snapped open.
It was not a drawing. It was a real, living eye, with a slitted, reptilian pupil of shimmering gold surrounded by an iris the color of blood. It swiveled in its leather socket, looking from a stunned Silas to a wary Lyra, before finally settling on Leo. It blinked once, slowly.
A voice, ancient, dry, and filled with the cranky displeasure of being woken from a very long nap, echoed in the room, seemingly coming from the book itself.
"About time," it grumbled. "It was getting dreadfully stuffy in here. The metaphysical wards haven't been dusted in at least three centuries. Do you have any idea how boring it is to have nothing to read?"
Leo, Lyra, and Silas stared, utterly speechless.
The golden eye narrowed, appraising Leo from head to toe. "Ah, a new one. You're the Master now, I take it? You've got the reek of the Inn's authority all over you. You're a bit… bland-looking, compared to the last few. No horns, no halo, not even a decent magical aura. What's your story?"
Leo found his voice. He had dealt with eccentric, demanding clients his entire life. This was just a more… literary version.
"I'm the new manager," Leo said, falling back on his familiar script. "And you're a book squatting in one of my premium, newly-unlocked rooms."
The eye blinked again. "A manager? How depressingly mundane. I am the Grimoire of Whispers, the Codex of Forgotten Truths, the… well, you get the idea. I am a being of immense knowledge and power."
"Great," Leo said, crossing his arms. "Knowledge and power have Value. You want to stay out of that dusty room and maybe get access to our library—once it has books, that is—you'll need to cover rent."
The golden eye stared at him for a long, silent moment. A faint, dry, papery sound that might have been a chuckle emanated from the book. "A landlord. Of all the things to be chosen. You mortals never cease to amuse." The grimoire seemed to consider it. "Very well, little landlord. I have no use for trinkets, and my power is my own. But my knowledge… my knowledge is vast. I will consent to this… tenancy. My rent shall be this: once per month, you may ask of me one spell from my pages. I will grant you the knowledge to cast it. A fair trade, I think."
Leo's grin was sharp as a razor. He'd spent ten thousand units and, in return, had acquired a new, paying tenant who would provide him with a consistent, high-tier source of magical power.
"It's a deal," he said. "Welcome to the Threshold Inn. Try not to make a mess."