'No, not yet,' she thought to herself. She shook away all her depraved thoughts before finally focusing her attention back on him. With a quiet grace that didn't match her current appearance, she spoke.
"Well, for a first-timer, you certainly seem to know your way around a woman. Plus, it seems you are much stronger than ordinary men."
The Countess remembered how he had been able to withstand the crushing of his neck between her thighs—something that would have been impossible for a normal man. Though she had been controlling her strength and wasn't actually trying to kill him, the fact that he could resist her so thoroughly spoke volumes of his physical power.
Her mind wandered back to the report she had received about him—how he had worked on an empty stomach yet still managed to deliver the results of two grown men for several consecutive days.
"Does he have…?" As soon as the thought appeared in her mind, a wave of joy—different from the carnal kind—flowed through her. If he indeed possessed what she suspected, then she had done far more than pick up a mere boy toy.
She would have found herself a diamond in the rough—or rather, a diamond in the mines.
However, before her thoughts could spiral further, she decided to test him. There was no point in getting her hopes up for no reason. With that thought, she waved her hand, and a book appeared in her grasp.
It looked to be in pristine condition, yet the fingerprints of time could not be removed from it. Though aged, its pages seemed crisp and sharp, as though pressed flat every day.
As soon as the book appeared, a wave of surprise mixed with awe washed over him. While it might have looked like an ordinary tome, he could tell exactly what it was—an Ardent Cultivation Technique.
While others might have spent the previous seven days lazing around, Gareth was not like them. With nothing else to do, he had spent that time scouring through the memories of the body's previous owner.
He searched for every clue, every snippet of information that could prove useful or help him gain an upper hand in this world. And sure enough, he found it almost immediately—the most certain way to gain power in this world:
To awaken as an Ardent.
From his memories, Ardents were superhuman individuals capable of wielding the world's mana to perform extraordinary feats—from commanding the forces of nature like fire and lightning, to wielding the strength to cleave mountains in half.
They could do it all. Of course, most of these were just tales he had heard, embellished to make the stories more exciting—but that didn't mean they were false.
Knowledge of the Ardents was akin to a universal truth—one that every person accepted, whether or not they had ever met one. Besides, they weren't that rare. If one wished to see an Ardent, there were certain places where their presence was almost guaranteed.
In a world ruled by power, becoming an Ardent was the universal dream of everyone, from young children to the elderly.
However, just because you desired something didn't mean you would obtain it.
In this world, the majority could not even take the first step on that path, let alone endure long enough to become someone of renown. That was because beginning this journey required something fundamental—something that could not be bypassed.
An Ardent Cultivation Technique.
The very thing the Countess was offering Gareth right now.
However, make no mistake—just because the Countess was offering it so easily to Gareth did not mean it was something easy to obtain. It wasn't an item that could be bought simply with money. And even if it were, the sky-high cost would be beyond what most could afford—if they were even lucky enough to find someone willing to part with such a treasure.
In this kingdom, most Ardent Cultivation Techniques were held by the nobles or the royal family. For the rest—those unfortunate enough not to be born among them—well, tough luck.
Nobles, stingy by nature, would never part with something so precious, not when they could use it for themselves. The only chance an ordinary person had to become an Ardent was to either find a cultivation technique in the wild or pledge their life in service to someone who possessed one.
The first option was utterly unrealistic—a delusion disguised as hope, born from the fantasy that one might be lucky enough to stumble upon such a treasure.
The second option, while more realistic, was equally difficult. Pledging one's life in servitude to another was something most people were reluctant to do. In a world governed by mana, it was simply another form of slavery.
Those who offered such techniques would surely have their own means of ensuring absolute obedience from those they bestowed it upon. No one would be foolish enough to entrust something so valuable based solely on another's word. No.
While Gareth didn't know the exact method, it wasn't a far-fetched conclusion to assume that, in a world filled with magic, there would be countless ways to ensure loyalty.
Even being chosen for such servitude was a challenge in itself. Without demonstrating sufficient talent, no noble would grant another their Ardent Cultivation Technique.
People trained for years before being deemed worthy to cultivate. Almost no one refused the "loyalty bonds" placed upon them by their patrons. After all, wasn't that the very reason they had trained so hard?
The temptation of power was enough to erase any hesitation they had about being bound. Besides, most nobles wouldn't harm their Ardents.
After all, an Ardent was a symbol of power. Losing even one would be a severe blow—one that no lord would want to bear.
So, even though Ardents were little more than slaves in name, no one in their right mind treated them as such. Most were regarded as honored guests, with every whim of theirs carefully catered to.
Sometimes, they were even treated with more respect than the Lords they served. Afterall, in a world built on power, having such capabilities demandedrespect from everyone