Chapter 7: Enslaving the Tree Spirit

Rod chugged down three bottles of magic potions in quick succession.

He finally felt a bit better.

He was resting his head on Tally's thigh, and the moment he opened his eyes, he found two mounds of flesh practically pressed against his face.

"Clothes."

His voice was weak and breathless.

Tally gently stroked his hair, then lowered her head and kissed his cheek.

"There's no one else here~"

Earlier, she had examined him and discovered that Rod actually had a second heart.

At that moment she realized that the Nu Yi Zhou linking the two of them was an extremely advanced spell, one that could even share skills.

Vivian sat nearby.

She stared at the wound on Rod's chest with a blank expression.

"Human, heart, broken, will die."

As a tree spirit, Vivian had no heart; in its place were seed-cores distributed throughout her body.

Because of this, their kind was not one easily wiped out.

But she also knew that a human's heart, if destroyed, would mean death.

Rod could see her worry.

Indeed, losing one heart would affect his strength somewhat, but at least it wouldn't kill him.

With the regenerative power of his second heart bolstering him, he could even recover fully.

He was just about to speak and comfort her.

Tally beside him immediately put on a show of crying.

"Master. Waaah, Master is going to die, little Tally won't have a Master anymore. Waaah."

"…What are you putting on?"

Vivian's expression shifted slightly, her brows and eyes drooping, deeply sorrowful.

Her palm pressed over Rod's hand.

"You, good human, Vivian, don't want you to die."

"Master, waaah, if only there were a tree spirit around, little Tally could save your life. Waaah." Tally said between sobs.

Hearing this, Vivian hurriedly pointed at herself.

"I, tree spirit, what, method?"

"Ah, so Vivian, you're a tree spirit?"

Tally's face showed a look of sudden realization.

Rod: "…"

Then he saw her immediately say, agitated:

"Master has mastered an enslavement spell, and this spell can share the enslaved being's lifespan. A tree spirit's life is long, so it can definitely save Master!"

Rod now understood.

But he couldn't figure out why Tally was doing this.

After this battle, Rod understood how turbulent the situation was; improving his strength at his current pace would definitely not be nearly enough.

Before, when it came to enslavement, he still had some moral qualms.

But now, he had none.

As long as he tried not to force the other party, that was fine.

Tally excepted.

The tree spirit paused for a moment, then immediately declared.

"Willing, as long as, can save."

"That's wonderful!"

Tally hurriedly looked toward Rod, afraid that her Master was the kind of person shackled by rigid morals.

"Vivian, don't worry, I won't force you to do anything you don't want to."

Rod's face was solemn.

"Vivian, believe."

【Nu Yi Zhou successfully used】

【Enslaved Target 2: Vivian. Huaierde】

【Race: Tree Spirit】

【Age: 42】

【Submission: 73】

【Evaluation: Possesses the bloodline of elves and tree demons, making her likely the race with the least desires on the continent, even more so than the elves who dwell deep within Emerald Court. Of course, aside from the desire to love trees, a great many tree spirits are extreme protectors of trees.】

【Submission has broken through to 73, unlocking shared skill with Vivian】

【Number of draws: 3】

【Initiating random draw.】

Starting off at 73 submission?

Rod was surprised.

To a certain extent, this submission level represented favorability.

Vivian's favorability toward him was this high?

But thinking about it more carefully, it was normal.

He had once saved his good friend, the half-deer person, from death.

On top of that, tree spirits were by nature a race that loved the forest, and as a forest ranger, Rhodes's daily task was to protect the woods.

After meeting a few times, everyone got along very well — it would be hard for the affinity to be low.

Vivian's skill entries kept scrolling.

Her spiritual arts were quite a bit more than Tally's.

【Steel Vine Charge】, 【One with the Wood】, 【Tree Walker】, 【Rot Spores】, 【Tree Sense】, 【Tree Armor】, and so on.

Rhodes even saw one displayed as 【????】.

He guessed this was something Vivian hadn't learned yet, but could learn.

【Chou Qu Cheng Gong】

【Shared Skill: Gift of the Trees】

【Details: An instinctive spiritual art that makes trees feel close to you. The trees will continuously bestow upon you the forest's spirituality. While in the forest, your recovery is greatly enhanced, and your comprehension of spirituality is strengthened.】

【Shared Skill: Steel Vine Charge】

【Details: Spiritual power hardens vines to the level of steel, bursting from the ground to charge and destroy forest villains.】

【Shared Skill: Tree Armor】

【Details: Aged trees possess extreme toughness and defense. Adhered to the body, it can offset most damage. This skill has a chance to evolve into a superior skill — Dragon Scale Art.】

Rhodes's eyes lit up.

All three were extremely practical spells!

One offense, one defense, one passive.

【Gift of the Trees】 immediately took effect.

He felt a steady stream of warm currents flowing from the forest, beginning to heal his injured body.

Vivian opened her eyes, which glowed with Bai Guang.

At this moment, the Yi Zhou De Zhou pattern appeared at her collarbone.

"Master."

"No, Vivian, just call me Rhodes."

Rhodes broke into a cold sweat: "You continue your life in the forest, I won't interfere with you."

Tally pulled Rhodes's head into her ample bosom.

"Right, and you don't come interfering with us either — especially when we're playing in the room. Don't ever make us stop halfway like last time."

Rhodes struggled free of Tally.

His body was much better.

Perhaps because of 【Gift of the Trees】, he could hear the wails of the trees within the flames.

"Let's put out the fire."

None of the three had a useful fire-extinguishing spell.

They could only stop the fire's spread by building a firebreak.

After nearly two hours of busy work, it was finally over.

Rhodes came to the ranch, hoping to find survivors.

Unfortunately, all five members of the family had been killed, and their brain cores had been dug out.

"This Yige Sect — completely the same style as the Yige race."

Tally held tweezers and pried open the skull, expression serious.

She conjured a doctor's white coat, wore a stethoscope, her hair neatly pinned at the back of her head, yet still in her true demon form — looking very contradictory.

"And they're already out in the open, not even cleaning up the bodies properly, so brazen."

Rhodes suspected the Yige Sect's infiltration had already sunk deep into the bone.

"The Aethelon Kingdom has fallen into dispute with the bordering Celestial Flower Kingdom, suffering consecutive defeats, the people are in panic, and many snakes, insects, rats and ants have seized the opportunity to slip in."

Tally tossed the tweezers aside.

She pressed close into Rhodes's embrace, her chest deforming against his ribs.

"Let me listen to whether your heart's healed."

She wore the stethoscope, not listening, but teasingly tracing little circles on Rhodes's firm chest muscles.

After the continuous healing of 【Gift of the Trees】, Rhodes's injuries had healed.

Tally's teasing really did set his heart aflame.

Vivian walked out from the edge of the forest.

Rhodes hurriedly pushed Tally away.

"Stinky tree spirit," Tally grumbled.

"Rhodes, the halfling, has come out."

Rhodes smiled.

Earlier, the halfling had drunk an invisibility potion, and even in death the effect persisted.

This made it hard for him to loot the corpse.

Now, it was time for him to take his spoils.

(End of this chapter)