Chapter 369: Ritual and Summoning

"Just in case, I've already sent people to look for weapons to deal with the giant dragon. Please keep an eye out as well, Mr. Rod. Shi Ying Town won't forget your contributions."

"I'm a member of Shi Ying Town too."

Rod said with a smile.

Rosalia smiled as well, elegant and gentle, radiant even in a gloomy place like an underground prison.

The Forester before her was a remarkably dependable man.

For some reason, just hearing his promise always put Rosalia's heart considerably at ease.

Shi Ying Town had an absurd amount of business; she had basically been swamped with official duties for the past two months and only managed to return home a few days ago.

Then she was surprised to find the house still spotless.

That dragon-tooth flower that should have long since wilted was still in the vase, head held high, like a blazing torch burning at all times.

Only then did she recall that Rod had told her to use Appraisal on that dragon-tooth flower.

—It was a precious treasure.

And Rod had clearly known all along, yet even knowing, he still chose to hand the flower to her.

Rosalia liked the flower, and she liked what it symbolized.

Perhaps precisely because of that, in that moment, she thought Rod was one of those rare men in the world.

"Me too~~"

The sweet scent of ripe grapes washed over her.

The succubus that guy kept charged over, hugged Rod, and kissed him on the face.

The kiss marks burned like fire, from his cheek to his neck, then brazenly crept past his collar, leaping from his collarbone to his resolute lips.

Like a dragon-tooth flower in full bloom.

The Tooth Fairy sighed inwardly.

It's just a pity that he's a man fated to be a philanderer.

A week flew by in the blink of an eye.

The clearing between Windwall Forest and Henry Farm.

Rod looked at the War Soul fixation ritual that Lady Kali and Watching Yuna had set up, feeling nothing in particular.

The psionic War Soul had already been constructed.

Today was the day of his advancement to Seventh Tier.

After all, Seventh Tier was a stage where one's spirituality underwent a change, and in practice it carried a certain degree of danger.

Whether intentional or not, every issue of the Snow Hill Evening News devoted a section to citing fatal cases of advancement to Seventh Tier—truly malicious intent.

Rod wasn't afraid, though.

His foundations were absurdly solid; with his Sixth Tier he felt he could casually cut down some watered-down Seventh Tier opponents with a single sword and be done with it.

This kind of advancement was child's play to him.

Not only that.

This past week he had barely rested at all.

By day he trained his body and refined his psionic War Soul; once night fell, he would have in-depth spiritual communion with each of the girls, continuing until sunrise, then repeating as before.

The ultimate master of time management—every girl he'd been involved with received his meticulous care.

Not even the ghoul Pan Ni and the banshee Chris, who were far away in the Claw Valley Highlands, were spared.

When Pan Ni saw him visit late at night, she cackled with joy; her obedience shot up rapidly to 58, just one step away from the next shared skill.

Chris was a different story.

Her first reaction upon seeing Rod was to run.

Rod said he was used to it.

Even during that thirty-day cannon-fodder party month, the moment she sobered up from the 【Charm Fluid】 state, she spent every day plotting her escape.

So Chris's spiritual progress was quite impressive.

By the end of the party, she was already pressing close to upper Sixth Tier.

"Master."

Watching Yuna said from the side, her delicate dark-skinned little face etched with worry.

As his personal secretary, Miss Spider naturally saw all of this and felt deeply for her master.

Lady Kali, while checking the ritual details, said coldly, "If you keep messing around like this, you'll drop dead, human."

"You warned me about this the very first time we met."

"Hmph, I just don't want you stinking up the forest and polluting the trees' spirituality."

Rod was used to the elf's foul mouth and didn't mind.

In the distance, at the edge of the Bai Yu district, he spotted the half-deer girl Little Ke leaning against a tree, peeking over.

He smiled and waved her over.

Little Ke ignored him, shrinking back instead, tucking herself behind the big tree with only a small portion of her face peeking out.

I-I'm not worried about you!

I just came to join the fun!

Little Ke felt embarrassed inside.

She had originally thought Vivian would come take a look too.

But the pure-hearted tree spirit said that during last night's lovemaking Rod had been very confident, so she declared she believed him one hundred percent and was now resting at home.

Though that made sense—when he came home last night she was covered in that stuff, so she must be worn out.

"Worrying about me again? Don't worry, Little Ke prophesied for me—everything will go smoothly."

Rod said with a smile.

"What a joke. Who's worried about you?"

Lady Kali sneered coldly.

"I, I, I, Tally will worry about Master~~"

A succubus with a cute child's face and huge breasts leaped from the shadows, threw herself into her master's arms, and rubbed and touched him.

Now it was Rod's turn to sneer coldly.

Tally, feeling guilty, dared not look at him and buried her head, rubbing her nose against his chest.

Heh heh.

This fellow had recently been obsessed with the "auntie" persona and, in a most rebellious act, had even intended to carve the 【Succubus Mark】 onto him.

The 【Succubus Mark】 was a brand-new skill infused by 【Growth of Spirituality】.

According to Tally's confession later, there were twenty-four types of Succubus Marks, and she had only mastered two of them.

The one she immediately tried to use on Rod by every means possible was the 【Low-Grade Mark】 among them.

Its specific effect was: 【When she could do whatever she wanted to Rod, the power of the Succubus Mark would influence Rod, making him feel his status was lower than hers, and he would even worship her.】

Generally speaking,

it was always Rod doing whatever he wanted to Tally; how could it be her turn to run wild?

But in bed, our Forest Warden sometimes gave the succubus a little room for free play, meaning female dominance; during that time, it could indeed be said she did whatever she wanted.

Every night, Tally took advantage of that short period to draw a bit of the 【Low-Grade Mark】 pattern on Rod's back.

Just as it was about to be completed,

Rod discovered it.

Or rather, he had noticed from the very beginning; the 【Spider Sense】 wasn't just for show.

He just happened to be enjoying that dangerous feeling in bed at the time.

Besides,

while carving it, Tally was sneaky, nervous yet excited, and her body reacted accordingly, giving Rod a proper treat.

"I was wrong, Master, please forgive me~~"

The succubus in his arms looked up, blinking her sparkling big eyes, putting on a cute act and acting spoiled.

"Heh heh, get lost."

Rod did not accept her apology and decided to ignore her for two days.

Seeing Lady Kali confirm the ritual was fine, he promptly pushed the succubus out of his arms.

He took off his shirt and handed his weapons and spell satchel to Watching Yuna.

"I'll carry it, I'll carry it~~~ I love carrying things for Master the most; it still has Master's scent, fragrant~~~"

Tally hurried over to take them, saying with a flattering expression.

Rod still ignored her, holding the fox-shaped spiritual bone gifted by the Canine Tribe's Sharon, and strode to the very center of the ritual.

(End of this chapter)