Their romance storyline only begins on the second playthrough?

Rod came to his senses slightly, and his curiosity suddenly arose.

In fact, after fusing with three divine seeds, the descriptions of his skills were almost a hundred words each. If he were to fuse with more later, wouldn't it mean that he would have to write about ten or more effects for each skill...? How long would that be to describe?

"It feels very abstract, but the key question is... what should I fuse with for the next divine seed?"

At this moment, his eyes narrowed slightly, his hand supporting his chin, lost in thought.

The Twelve Gods.

Besides those whose names are already known, here are the others—

【God of the Wasteland】, 【God of the Dead】, 【God of Skill】, 【God of Elves】, 【God of Mystic Arts】, 【God of Dreams】, 【God of the Sea】, 【God of Ingenuity】.

The gods of this world are not fixed. As long as they have special characteristics, they are qualified to become gods once they obtain a divine position.

Therefore, it can be seen from the names of the gods that some gods are related to races, while others are simply special skills. In fact, everything depends on the characteristics of the god himself.

What God is like, and what the divine position is called, that's all.

Ultimately, however, the remaining gods were almost all those with strong characteristics, so Rhodes was indeed in a dilemma when it came to making a choice.

"Since there's no other choice, let's choose this one."

【The Spirit God】.

Professor Merrick's divine seed—[Elf God].

Although elves must be of the elven divine race, not all elven divine races are elves. Due to regional characteristics, even among humans, there are many who worship elven gods.

The most distinctive feature of this divine race is its extreme antiquity and diversity.

Like the clay figure Professor Merrick used when repairing his apartment, it was a trivial creation of the divine.

However, precisely because of this diversity, it's impossible to know which aspect of skills can be acquired, such as [immortality], [creation], or [forest]. Therefore, this is a gamble-like upgrade, to see if Rhodes' skills can be improved after fusion.

Rhodes had already decided on his direction and began to activate his body's senses.

But suddenly,

dong dong dong-

Suddenly, the knocking on the door interrupted his thoughts, and he quickly came back to his senses;

He paused slightly, "Who is it?"

The person outside seemed a little embarrassed, but still knocked on the door, leaned against it, and said in a muffled voice:

"It's me... Ivina."

Rod raised an eyebrow.

This guy just ran away shyly, why is he back now?

Although he was puzzled, he still spoke up:

"Come in."

Naturally, every extra minute he spent with Ivina meant a greater chance of taking her away from here.

Although the barrier between him and Ivina has been broken, it doesn't mean that Ivina can overcome her inner problems and leave the Duke's mansion.

What Rhodes did was like a patient going from distrusting the doctor to trusting the doctor, but the patient's illness still existed.

Therefore, he now has to take action to solve this disease.

click-

The wooden door had just been opened and closed by Ivina two minutes ago, but now it's open again.

Her petite figure came into Rhodes's view. Her fingertips gripped the wooden door, only half of them visible. She looked a little timid. "Um... um, can I sleep here with you?"

Rhodes' eyes narrowed slightly.

Why?

"You blew up my room."

"cough."

Rhodes initially thought that Ivina, this little girl, really harbored some filthy thoughts, being so lustful even with a new friend. But after hearing the truth, he coughed.

"There are still so many empty rooms."

"My room is my domain! I can't sleep in unfamiliar spaces," Ivina shook her head like a kitten in denial. "I can only fall asleep when there are familiar things in the room."

"But there's nothing you recognize in this room, is there?" Rhodes wondered.

Then, Ivina turned her face away and hid behind the door, pointing a finger at Rhodes—

Rod's face was blank as he pointed at himself.

"I?"

"you."

"……I?"

"You're the only one who's familiar with this stuff. I don't know if I can sleep, but I have to give it a try, right?! I don't want to stay up all night..." Her tone suddenly became a bit harsher.

"Ha... okay, it's alright," Rod replied with a smile.

"Don't worry, I'm just sleeping in a chair. Don't think I'm actually going to sleep with you."

Ivina's sweet yet haughty voice rang out, and then she took small steps to the chair and sat down properly.

As Rhodes watched Ivina run over on her own, he only thought she was a bit clumsy, and that was all.

After all, she had said that, so how could I refuse?

And if she herself isn't embarrassed, then he has nothing to be embarrassed about.

After all, who was just lying on top of him...? I don't know.

"Whatever you like, this is your territory anyway." Rhodes nodded slightly, clasped his hands together, and placed them in front of him.

But after he finished speaking, the scene fell into an awkward and naive silence.

Once things stop, both sides will remember Ivina's terrible actions...

Ivina herself was embarrassed, but to be honest, she really had nowhere else to sleep.

If she were to go to a completely new and unfamiliar environment alone, her inner panic and fear would fill her completely. Not to mention sleeping, her physical and mental health would probably suffer.

It's like... being afraid of being locked in a dark, sealed box.

Therefore, she really had no choice but to do this, which is why she ended up sitting here in such an awkward position.

"I...I...um." She tried to say something, but in the end, she didn't know what friends should talk about.

Moreover, she didn't know what Rod liked to talk about, what he liked to do, or what his hobbies were, so she eventually fell silent again.

Yes... thinking about it carefully, she seems to know absolutely nothing about her new friend.

But everyone knows that when both parties feel awkward and remain silent, the awkwardness only intensifies.

Therefore, at this moment, Rhodes broke the deadlock:

"Miss Ivina, since you're sleeping here tonight, why don't we chat for a while?"

"Hmm? Hmm, that works too. Let's just treat it as a bedtime story," Ivina said quickly, realizing what she meant.

"Telling short stories is a bit of a challenge for me. I'm not very good at telling short stories."

"What I'm about to say is actually quite heavy."

Ivina's one unbound eye secretly glanced at Rhodes:

"Hmph...then why don't I do it? I've heard quite a few stories, and since you're injured today, I'll reluctantly lend a hand."

"Huh?" Rod smiled inexplicably.

"Alright, go ahead."