# Chapter 10: The Golden Goose
The Alchemy Lab was silent, save for the bubbling of a copper retort.
Lysandra stood before me, holding a vial with both hands as if it were a holy relic. The liquid inside was no longer the sludge-like purple of Ambrosia. It was a clear, crystalline blue, swirling with tiny flecks of light that looked like trapped stars.
"I didn't believe it," Lysandra whispered, her voice trembling with exhaustion and awe. "The reaction... it inverted. Instead of burning the mana channels to force output, the Moon-Nectar stabilized the flow. It's... it's beautiful."
I took the vial. It was cool to the touch.
[Item Identified: Tears of the Seraph (Prototype)]
[Grade: Rare]
[Effect: Restores 250 Mana instantly. Clears "Mental Fatigue" status. No cooldown.]
[Market Value: Estimating... 500 Gold Coins per vial.]
I suppressed a smile. 500 Gold. A standard mana potion cost 10 Gold. I was holding a king's ransom.
"You have ten vials?" I asked.
"Twelve," Lysandra corrected. "I improved the yield on the final distillation."
She looked at me, her dark eyes wide. She wasn't looking at me with fear anymore. It was the look of a scientist looking at a muse.
"Valerius... this formula. It could revolutionize the Mage Tower. If we publish this—"
"No," I cut her off sharply.
The temperature in the room dropped. Lysandra flinched, remembering who she was talking to.
"We do not publish," I said, pocketing the vial. "If the Mage Tower gets this recipe, they will pat you on the head, give you a medal, and take all the profit. They will make it common."
I walked around the table, trailing my finger along the rim of the cauldron.
"scarcity creates value, Lysandra. We are not scientists. We are merchants of miracles."
I turned to her.
"You will brew twenty vials a week. No more. We will sell them through a proxy in the Black Market, labeled as 'Ancient Excavated Potions' to explain the rarity. You take 30% of the profit. I take 70%."
Lysandra's jaw dropped. "30%? But... at this price... that would make me richer than my father in a month."
"Yes," I said simply. "Money buys freedom, Lysandra. Soon, you won't need to fear your family. You will be able to buy them."
I tossed a heavy bag of coins onto the table—my initial investment from the 'cleaning' of her previous earnings.
"Buy better ingredients. And sleep. You look like a corpse, and not the useful kind."
***
I needed a test subject.
I found Caelum in the training grounds. He was practicing the [Modified Flash Bolt]. Flash. Darkness. Flash. Darkness. He was getting faster.
"Drink this," I said, tossing him a vial.
Caelum caught it, fumbling. "What is it? Poison?"
"Breakfast. Drink."
Caelum hesitated, then uncorked it and downed it in one gulp.
His eyes widened. He gasped, dropping the empty vial. Blue mana flared around his body, visible to the naked eye. The fatigue lines on his face vanished instantly.
"Whoa," Caelum breathed, looking at his hands. "My mana... it's full. No, it's overflowing. And my head... it's clear. I feel like I just slept for ten hours."
"Good," I noted. "Side effects?"
"None. I just feel... ready."
"Excellent." I turned to leave.
"Wait! Valerius!" Caelum jogged after me. "Where did you get this? Can I have more? With this, I could train twice as hard!"
"Everything has a price, Hero," I said over my shoulder. "That vial cost more than your tuition. Work harder, and maybe you'll earn another one."
I left him there, staring at his glowing hands. He was hooked. Not on a drug, but on *efficiency*.
***
Phase 1 was complete. I had the product. Now, I needed the knowledge to use my growing resources effectively.
I headed to the Great Library.
The main hall was filled with students studying for midterms, but I walked past them, heading for the heavy iron door at the back. The Restricted Section.
Two Stone Golems guarded the door. They were Level 50 Elites.
I held up the black key Aric had given me.
The Golems' eyes flashed green. They stepped aside, the stone grinding against stone.
I unlocked the door and stepped inside.
The air in the Restricted Section was stale, smelling of dust and ancient magic. The shelves were tall, reaching up into the darkness. Books here weren't organized by subject; they were organized by *danger*.
I walked down the aisle labeled "Forbidden History."
I wasn't looking for spells. I had the System for that. I was looking for the truth about this world. In *Aethelgard Online*, the lore was vague about the "First Villain"—the entity that created the Dungeon System.
I needed to know if my System was connected to that entity.
I activated [Eye of the Architect].
Most books glowed with a faint white aura. Some glowed yellow (traps).
Then, I saw it.
On a bottom shelf, tucked between a tome on 'Blood Magic' and 'The Fall of the Giants', was a thin, black book.
It glowed with a pulsating, crimson light. It had no title on the spine.
I knelt down and pulled it out. The leather felt like human skin.
I opened the cover.
There was no text. Just a single, hand-drawn illustration of a throne made of thorns.
Suddenly, the System UI flickered into existence. It was glitching, the blue text turning red.
[Alert: Relic Detected.]
[Analyzing...]
[Error. Origin Unknown.]
[The Book is attempting to communicate.]
*Communicate?*
The ink on the page began to move. The thorns on the drawing writhed, forming words.
**"Hello, Actor."**
I slammed the book shut.
My heart hammered against the walls of my [Mind Palace].
"Actor," I whispered.
It knew.
This wasn't a recorded message. This was live.
I looked around. The library was empty. Silence pressed in on me.
I slowly opened the book again.
**"Do not be afraid. I enjoyed your performance with the fruit. Very theatrical."**
"Who are you?" I whispered.
The ink swirled.
**"I am the one who wrote the script you are trying to break. You call me the System. I call myself the Author."**
My blood ran cold.
**"You are an anomaly, Valerius Thorne. A soul from another world using a glitched interface. In a normal story, I would erase you."**
I gripped the edges of the book, my knuckles white. "Then why haven't you?"
**"Because the Hero is boring,"** the book wrote. **"Caelum is predictable. Aric is a cliché tyrant. Seraphina is a standard broken doll. But you... you are surprising."**
**"I will make you a deal, Villain."**
**"Entertain me. Ruin this world. Twist the plot until it snaps. If you give me a good ending, I will let you keep the throne."**
**"But if you bore me... I will write your death scene myself."**
**[Quest Issued: The Author's Game]**
**[Objective: Cause a "Major Plot Deviation" within 7 days.]**
**[Current Deviation: 12% (Lysandra/Caelum arcs).]**
**[Target Deviation: 50%.]**
**[Reward: Hidden Class Unlock.]**
**[Failure Penalty: Narrative Erasure (You cease to exist).]**
The text faded. The book became just a book again.
I stood up, shoving the book into my inventory.
"Entertain you?" I hissed, a cold fury rising in my chest.
I hated being a pawn. I hated being watched.
"Fine," I said to the empty air. "You want a twisted plot? You want a show?"
I turned and walked out of the library, my coat billowing behind me.
"I'll give you a tragedy."