The rest of that week passed quickly.
Ethan's days fell into a steady rhythm: inspecting the work of his citizens in the mornings, and training with Evelyn for the remainder of the day.
Training that was absolutely worth every drop of sweat.
His strength had increased considerably, his lean muscles had become more defined, and he even looked a little taller, his figure towering over Evelyn.
At that moment, he was resting in the back garden of the Lord's mansion, the late afternoon light settling warm and amber across the grass, his eyes drifting over his status screen.
[Name: Ethan Goldenveil
Level: 22/25 (XP: 3%)
Rebirths available: 2
Stage: 1 (Advancement mission available at level 25.)
Talent: Rank E
Noble title: Intermediate Knight. (Increase your prestige to improve your title.)
Heroic Title: The incomparable degenerate of Darkwall! (-3 prestige)
Prestige: 11/15
Aura: 200/200
Attributes.
Strength: 15
Agility: 13
Vitality: 17
Intelligence: 10
Charm: 400
Available attribute points: 4]
One week. He had grown more in one week than in years under his father's tutors.
Was all of that really just the system at work?
"System... isn't this growth too fast? Would everyone evolve this quickly with the help of the Gaia system?" he asked, scratching his chin.
If he had already come this far this fast, he could barely imagine what a man like his father, with genuine talent, would be capable of.
[Golden Lords have a natural growth bonus. Natives would never be able to grow so fast. The host's growth would be even greater if it weren't for his pathetic talent.]
The response settled some of the tension in his chest, even if the doubts didn't disappear entirely.
'How many Golden Lords are there?'
[About a thousand. The vast majority won't last even the first few months, and none of them have me, the great summoning system of the great pervert!]
"I see..."
Part of him wanted to take the opportunity to call out the system's arrogance and its terrible taste in names.
But honestly, that would be too hypocritical. The missions had been paying off well enough that complaining felt hollow.
'Well, at least it hasn't asked me to throw myself at some random noblewoman's breasts yet.' Ethan stood up, letting his gaze drift across the garden to Evelyn.
She was seated on the ground, leaning on the handle of her weapon with her eyes closed, deep in meditation.
The late sun caught the sheen of sweat on her skin, droplets tracing slow paths down through the deep valley between her breasts, pooling in the soft hollow where the full, round mountains of flesh pressed together.
Then her eyes opened.
She pushed herself to her feet in one fluid motion, and the momentum made her breasts bounce. The small bead of pooled sweat that had gathered between them broke free and ran in a thin line down the firm, toned planes of her belly.
"Ready for another round?" Ethan laughed, rolling his shoulders back in a stretch.
"Hm..." Evelyn looked thoughtful for a moment. She lowered her head for a moment, then raised it again. "What do you think their plan is, after they kill you?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Ethan... look at this place." She gestured around her.
Even the garden where they stood, the private garden of the lord's own mansion, was in a sorry state. Neglected plants gone wild without tending, wooden walls old and laced with cracks.
"The guards here are a bunch of corrupt, weak sons of bitches, and the walls surrounding this settlement would barely hold back a pack of rats."
She reached down and lifted her axe, settling the weapon across her shoulders.
"These people are doomed without you. They wouldn't last the next month, let alone the next winter. For those useless pieces of shit to want to move against you... they must have a plan."
Ethan went quiet.
He had been so focused on winning the loyalty of his people and working out how to stay ahead of Alaric that he had missed something obvious and important.
Ulric was neither an idiot nor a brute running on muscle and pride like his son. He had something bigger in mind.
But what?
What could possibly make a dying settlement worth this much effort?
He turned it over in his head and came up empty.
He was just opening his mouth to say something when his body moved on its own.
He lurched backward sharply, and Evelyn's boot cut through the air where his face had been a half second earlier, close enough that he felt the displaced wind against his skin.
"Stop overthinking in front of an opponent!!" She grinned, trying to pull her leg back. "Alaric would have already taken your head if he were in my place"
"Yes... you're right!" Ethan smiled, his hands already closed around her heel.
With one smooth motion, he lifted her calf up onto his shoulder and stepped forward.
"Nghnn~~"
The sound slipped past her lips as her back met the trunk of the tree at the center of the garden, the impact pressing her firmly between the bark and his body.
One of his hands settled on the upper thigh of her raised leg, fingers closing around the soft, warm, silky skin there.
"You... what do you think you're doing, huh?"
A wild smile spread across her face as his hand moved a little further up.