After the mistress separated her tender lips from my forehead, she let go of my blushing face, and her emotions seemed to calm down a bit.

She said in an excited voice, "You have brought to me something incredibly precious, my little Mog. If you were a debt slave, I would have not only freed you right here and now, but I would have also given you 2,000 gold coins and a permanent, well-paying job. I would even support your growth, giving you the best growth environment out there. And that is not even scratching on the surface of its worth."

At her words, I was beyond speechless. A stone that would not only set me free from slavery but also set me up for life? And it was not even the surface of its worth?!

"Good gods above, what is that stone?!!" I couldn't help but exclaim.

The mistress smiled mysteriously, "My adorable little Mog, take a guess. If you guess right, I will tell you a little secret. Oh, and take your time. I am in a good mood."

She then sat across me, completely relaxed.

At her words, I began to think critically.

"Just what could move the mistress so much? Why is that stone worth so much? Why is it immune to mana and aura and so incredibly tough? Wait..."

My line of sight suddenly shifted to the scroll, specifically, the title.

"The name of the scroll was "Of The Divine.". In other words, the rock has divine origins. Divine items are naturally worth incalculable amounts of wealth. Still, what kind of divine item could the mistress want so much? If it was a relic, I could understand, but this is a rock. Even if it is a divine rock, it is still a rock. This rock has no crafting worth, so what can she do with a divine rock...?"

At this line of thought, my gaze unconsciously turned to that bullshit story, "The Paragon.".

"According to the story, the main ingredient to that Paragon potion is the god's spark. Its description was that of a shiny rock, but the rock here is black as coal..."

I hesitated for a bit before saying uncertainly, "Is it a god's spark?"

The mistress's smile widened, "Good guess. Yes, it is a god's spark. However, it is the most inferior god's spark out there, almost completely drained of its power. However, even the tiny amount of divinity still inside this seemingly useless rock is priceless to us mortals. That said, don't mention a word about this. It is an order."

I was shocked but still bowed and said, "Yes, mistress."

The mistress nodded, "Good. Now then, since you guessed right, I shall let you in on a small secret ahead of time. Before that, though, I shall ask you a question. What do you know about talents?"

I frowned slightly at the question before I answered, "People are born with talents. Better talents enable people to improve faster than others in certain aspects. A warrior's talent enables one to improve faster as a warrior. It affects the rate of improvement in skills and stats, as well as increasing their upper limit. There are also talents with special effects, such as allowing others to view your status and such. Parents with good talent are more likely to give their children better talent, usually related to their own. Some people are born with unrelated talents to their parentage. That is all I know."

I skimmed the part where there are hidden talents like mine, but it seemed like my slave contract didn't punish me for it.

The mistress luckily didn't notice this and nodded, "Very good. What you said is indeed correct about a talent's effects and inborn inheritance. However, do you know how people gain talents?"

At her words, I frowned, "What do you mean by that? Are there other ways to improve one's talent?"

My question was legitimate. Generally speaking, it is common knowledge that talents are something you are born with. Once you are born with it, for good or bad, it sticks for life.

The mistress smiled and said, "Yes, there are several ways to improve one's talent. The first one is the crudest and most direct way, hard work. Remember the protagonist of that stupid scroll? He worked hard. Incredibly hard. To the point where he broke through his natural limits. Due to that, his talent as a warrior slightly improved. Although perhaps, it wasn't enough to even increase his talent to the basic level, it certainly increased.

The second crude way is selecting a class. By the fruits of your hard labor, your innate talent, and the gods' favor, you can select a class befitting you. Although talent is certainly a big boon, as long as you work hard enough and the gods allow it, you can select a class above your natural limit. In the story, the protagonist obtained the Apprentice Warrior Class, a warrior exclusive class. People with natural basic talent might obtain such a class effortlessly, but someone like him shouldn't be able to. However, by obtaining that class, his talent improved further, reaching the basic level, enabling him to use aura. In the army, we take potential recruits at age 17 and train them rigorously for a whole year. Those who can obtain the Recruit Class will join the army, while those who cant will be disqualified. And, as you know, children of soldiers are more likely to be more talented warriors. After a few generations of repeating, it can even form a bloodline of sorts.

Big families, such as the Fidelis family, are built on the blood, sweat, and tears of our ancestors' hard labor, forming a strong bloodline that enables their descendants to become more talented than their peers. It is to the point that, in my family, not having a single intermediate talent is equivalent to being born malformed, with almost everyone having at least a single intermediate talent or above as either a mage or a warrior. Although I am not sure about you, you are likely to have some strong warrior ancestors, my little Mog."

I thought of it for a moment, and it made sense. If your ancestors worked hard for many generations, and through selective breeding, people would naturally be more talented than others. At least on average. A big family like the Fidelis family must have taken in many prodigies over the years and strengthened their bloodline many times. Because their bloodline was so powerful, having intermediate talent as either a mage or warrior was normal, where common people were lucky to have basic warrior or mage talents. Normal people usually had talents related to production, their family crafts, while talented people usually find themselves adopted into warrior families. I was just unlucky enough to be born as a half-breed in an especially racist society.

The mistress continued, "Now, on to the less conventional ways. The third way is to eat the natural treasures of the world. Ingesting and bathing in, say, the blood of a dragon, and surviving its corrosive nature, can increase your physique beyond its limits and even grant you advanced warrior talents. It might even grant unique dragon bloodlines, allowing the casting of draconic magic. Such practice caused the dragon population in this world to lessen significantly, however. There are other natural treasures, giving talent to certain elements and magic. From time to time, a strong or lucky adventurer might be lucky enough to stumble on one, increasing his natural talent or selling it for a fortune in an auction.

The fourth way is through alchemy. Although commoners do not know this, Alchemy can produce potent potions that can increase one's talent. Some potions, such as the Paragon potion in the story, can grant immediate effects. Although general potions don't have such effects and are ridiculously expensive and hard to make, potions that grant basic and intermediate talent are common among the rich circles. I make some too. Some potions are taken through long periods of ingestion. The potion we used in the bath is one such potion. Long periods of use can give a small chance of gaining skills and talents related to self-regeneration and disease and poison resistance, even if the most basic one."

I nodded in understanding. Basically, using wealth to increase talent. As my father said, "We are what we eat.". 

The mistress continued her explanation, "Now, for the least orthodox ways. The fifth way is to gain the blessing of a god. Through their holy blessings, an individual can show talent far beyond what he originally had. A blessing of goddess Veona, for instance, can grant the rare talent Luck. However, most people usually have a talent beforehand, simply augmenting it further, among other things. Potitus Juventius Caepio, the current patriarch of the Caepio family, is well-known as a blessed of Veona. It is unknown whether his talent came from Veona or himself, but it is undisputed that he is lucky to extreme levels."

Her words sounded right. I did indeed hear of stories of fabled heroes of legend rising through the blessings of gods. I remember stories of heroes slaying evil mythical creatures through the help of gods.

The mistress's tone suddenly became disgusted as she said, "The final and least favorable way to gain talent is through the dark religious ceremonies and sacrifices to the dark gods. Through the act of sacrificing the very lives, bodies, and souls of animals, monsters, and even other people to the dark gods, they can grant individuals great talent and strength, far above their weight."

She narrowed her eyes and said in derision, "However, such acts are heretical in nature. Sacrificing lives and souls to achieve power has its own consequences. The lightest of them is slight madness, followed by deformation. The more power you gain above your limits, the more you change until you become nothing but a shell of yourself, a disgusting, warped, and mad abomination that needs to be cleansed by holy fire."

As she said that, she held the expression of someone who ate a fly. And I shared that same expression. Such practice was indeed heretical and revolting. Still, there was one thing that I didn't understand.

I asked, "What are dark gods?"

My father and the temple priests never told me about such gods. I have only ever heard about some gods who have done some evil deeds at most. Even Qraenta, Goddess Of The Underworld, is only depicted as moderately evil. However, none of them were described as dark, and none condoned such blasphemy.

The mistress's disgust deepened as she said, "Oh, right, most commoners are not aware of those beings. The dark gods also called the outer gods or eldritch, are creatures beyond mortal comprehension, rivaling in power that of gods. While our gods enjoy the sincere prayers of us mortals, the dark gods feed on dark emotions, lives, and souls and like to predate on mortals like us. To contact us, mortals, they use dreams and morsels, dark artifacts they send to our world. Through these things, they manage to make contact with us, and through that, they establish a connection through which they can receive sacrifices."

She then waved her hand, "Such happenings are rare, and they are usually promptly dealt with by zealous fanatics, so no need to worry."

That description was kind of scary. Evil and corrupted creatures outside our world rivaling our gods? That sounds horrible, especially that they can pop out at any time. The only upside is the rarity of it. Even if it does happen, zealous fanatics will deal with it, so I didn't need to worry.

The mistress's expression changed to a more pleasant one and said, "Well, now that we are done with such morbid talk, let us go back on topic and speak about the secret I wanted to tell you about. Remember what I said about people attempting to recreate the Paragon potion but failing?"

At her words, my heart skipped a beat. All the pieces have come into place.

She is a B-rank alchemist, she mentioned the paragon potion with such passion, and she desires the god's spark. The answer is obvious yet hard to believe.

"You mean...?" I asked rhetorically, even though I knew what she was getting at. It was just that unbelievable.

The mistress's smile widened even more, creating dimples on her face, "Yes. You have guessed it right. I have successfully recreated a recipe for a lesser variant of that fabled potion, replacing all the core components inside it with ones from this mortal world."

She then continued as she twirled her golden hair, "Although the lesser variant isn't as exaggerated as the original potion, it can still grant perfect talent in everything. For example, I have perfect talent in alchemy, so one who consumed it would have talent comparable to me in alchemy, among other things. But there is a problem..."

She awkwardly smiled and pointed at the rock in her hands, the god's spark, "Although I managed to finish the potion recipe, I still lacked the final ingredient, the god's spark. The god's spark acts as a catalyst to fuse the medicinal properties of all the ingredients, allowing them to reach perfect equilibrium. Although the potion can theoretically work without the spark, the results are more-- volatile, so to speak."

She then stood up and paced, "According to the ancient records, there are only three outcomes of taking the unstable potion, and that is either Death, irreversible damage, or no effects at all. For someone weak, no matter what race, age, or talent one has, the result is always death. For someone of moderate strength, it causes permanent damage, such as loss of lifespan or damaging your own talents. For someone strong, the potion is no longer potent enough, so the effect is nil."

I couldn't help but be disturbed by such a revelation. The people who died, at least the weak ones, most of them, were people like me. Slaves. The only difference was that they were unfortunate enough to become test subjects to mad alchemists. However, that brought a worry to my heart. Was the mistress also a mad alchemist?

While I was thinking this, the mistress continued, "That brings us to the stabilization phase. As the god's spark is almost impossible to find, we had to find alternate ways to stabilize the potion. Some used various monsters' hearts, others eccentric materials, and some even heretically used souls. I took a different approach, changing a few of the ingredients my predecessors thought of and the ratios, along with an ice-heart herb as the catalyst. The effect would be to burn your talents in exchange for the lesser paragon talent. The more talented you are, the higher the success rate. Even if it did not succeed, it would only cripple your talents and strength, dooming you to live as a mortal. The downside is that it is by far more expensive to produce. I can barely produce one with the materials on my hands."

When I heard her say all this, I had some guesses in my heart, but I still asked, "My mistress, if I may be so rude, why did you tell me all of this?"

The mistress looked at me in the eye and said, "Well, I shall be frank with you. This potion is extraordinarily precious. However, the risk it carries is equally immense. For someone without background like you, losing your talent might not be the end of the world. For someone like me, however, losing my talent is a death sentence. I am in a rather sensitive position, you see. I have many enemies who are just raring to get my head if I show weakness. Although I could give the potion to Erno, he is my closest supporter, so I can't lose him. My brother, Aulus, as stupid as he is, is currently my only shield. If he loses his talent, my half-siblings and cousins will rip him to shreds in the power struggles, and I would follow shortly after."

This revelation was not new to me, as Cispia already informed me of the mistress's situation. However, it was still shocking, nonetheless. Her situation was far worse than I thought!

"It appears I have found myself on the luxurious ship called Mistress Consentia Fidelis, and I am a passenger shackled to this ship. And it just so happens that this said ship is currently in the middle of a storm. As a shackled passenger, all I can do is try and keep the ship afloat for as long as I can."

As those thoughts went through my head, I asked, "And what about Livia and Cispia? Borso and Faevyre? Anyone else from the guards?"

The mistress shook her head, "Livia and Cispia are my handmaidens. As my handmaidens, they are also my future child-bearers, wetnurses, and bodyguards. I cannot gamble on them, and I have no right to do so. Borso and Faevyre are adventurers hired by my father. Although they also listen to me, they are still under contract from my father for the next few foreseeable years, so I cant use them. The same goes for all the other soldiers and slaves in the mansion. Every single one of them. That is, all except for one. You."

I bitterly smiled. As expected, she wants to use me as a lab rat. Figures.

The mistress seemed to notice my look and snapped, "Oh, don't think I will force you to take this potion. It is but an opportunity! If you don't take it, then so be it! Most normal people would jump on this chance. At most, I would need to rack my brain to find someone else."

I was honestly surprised at her words. Most masters won't consider a crime a slave's opinion. Although debt slaves have some rights for their life, crime slaves do not share the same rights. Even if I am but a pickpocket, my life was still at the whims of my master. For the mistress to actually ask for my permission was rare, even strange. The act of even explaining all of this to me is strange, too.

I couldn't help but voice out truthfully, "Forgive me for my rudeness, mistress, but even a kid like me can think of rewarding me with the experimental potion, saying that it is beneficial for me. I know myself, and I know I would have believed you. If the potion gave me a boon, I would be thankful to you, perhaps even swearing an oath of fealty. If the potion gave me a woe, I would resent you. However, if it really crippled or even killed me, what would be the use? I would still be useless trash. I wouldn't even be able to curse you since I would still be a slave or even dead. Why did you tell me all of this?"

The mistress went silent for a moment before saying with a bitter smile, "You speak like Erno, Mog. He proposed the same thing as you just said, but I rejected it. I don't believe in trickery, at least against my own people. Remember this, my little Mog. Even if I am deceptive or cruel to my enemies, I shall be as fair as I can with my allies. This I swear by Ximjun."

At her words, I relaxed. No sane man would swear under a god's name in vain. Doing so will enact the said god's wrath. For her, an alchemist, being cursed by the god of alchemy is the same as crippling herself. Also, I was really touched by her words. How many masters would be willing to casually swear like that by the name of their patron god? For their newly bought slave, no less. It took incredible resolve and sincerity to do so.

I sincerely bowed and thanked, "Thank you for your consideration, mistress."

The mistress shook her head, "I have already sworn this oath before. I am just repeating it. In any case, back to the topic, you have brought me the god's spark. And that changes things. Entirely."

As she said that, she pointed at the stone, "The god's spark is the best catalyst for the Paragon potion, allowing complete stability. The success rate when intaking the potion will increase significantly while minimizing the side effects. It is conjectured that the success rate is over 97%. If it fails, then there will be a small drop in talent, but that's it. Even I am tempted to risk it all and use it."

I was first baffled at first, but then congratulated, "Congratulations, my mistress. The road to greatness is paved before you!"

Although I was now slightly disappointed, I was fine with it. It isn't like it belonged to me. At most, I shall ride on her coattails as the one who obtained the god's spark. However, her next words betrayed my thoughts. Completely.

She smiled bitterly and said, "Although I am truly tempted to do as you say, I am afraid that it is out of my control anymore. The gods want you to take it, my little Mog. It is part of their grand plan."