Chapter 595: Planting A Treant
The twins managed to get out of the forest before it initiated its layout reset. The two sighed in relief, knowing that they were close enough to get caught up in the reset.
"Let’s go home. I am exhausted from slicing all those branches. They looked withered, but they are quite sturdy. I have to use quite a bit more force just to fully cut it, otherwise, the sword will just bounce."
"You looked like you cut them with ease, though?" Adelaide is surprised.
"Hahaha, then perhaps my attack just looked smooth that it looked natural, but honestly, I thought the attack will not go through. The branches were quite sturdy."
When the twins entered the farm, Adelaide headed to the farmland and pulled out the two seeds they got after the Corrupted Treant were burned.
As if on cue, Harvest Goddess appeared before Adelaide, stopping her.
"Wait, wait, wait, Ade. What are you doing?" Harvest Goddess blocked her path to the planting area.
"Huh? Of course, I am going to the plot of land and plant something, is somethinh wrong with that?" Adelaide asked.
"Nothing wrong at all, but I do have an issue with the seed that you are carrying. Can you tell me where you got that?"
Adelaide show the seeds to the Harvest Goddess and explained where she got it.
"After we retrieved the branch of the Corrupted Treant, this seed appeared and according to the Almanac, this seed will grow into a Treant as long as it is planted in an area free from any dark energy or corruption. I plan to grow it here on the farm!"
The Harvest Goddess sighed. "Well, you are correct on that part, but you should know that if you plan to plant the Treant Seed, make sure it isn’t near the regular plants you planted around. A Treant grows fast the moment it is planted. Once it sprouts from the ground, it will immediately consume the nearest nutrition available around it, so if you don’t want your planted crops to disappear without a trace, then you should prepare something for it in advance."
"So it was complicated enough. But is it not going to turn into a Corrupted Treant? I don’t want to wake up in the morning with a Corrupted Treant rampaging around and causing issues."
The Harvest Goddess shook her head. "Not at all. Like what Ade said, the Treant will grow normally if the place it was planted in lacks corruption and darkness that contributes to it becoming a Corrupted Treant. If you two plan to plant these seeds, better prepare for materials that would help sustain these Treants the moment it grows. They can be quite ravenous and might devour your whole harvest if not careful."
"Thanks for the warning, Harvest Goddess, but you mentioned something about it growing quick, how quick are we even talking about?"
Instead of telling, the Harvest Goddess smiled. "Depending on how healthy the land they got planted on. Considering how healthy and full of nutrients the soil here on the farm, plus the accelerated growth added to that, minimum would be 2 days and maximum would be a week. Of course, my estimates might be off so preparation is still the key."
After saying that, she went to the empty area of the land, and point over on the area where Elaina has yet to touch. There are still bunch of weeds present and thr place has yet to be fully cleared and converted to regular farm plot.
"I suggest you lot to plant those two seeds here. Weeds are actually included in its diet. If you want this area to get cleaned up quick and need less resources once it has grown, then this area is perfect for the Treant’s starting place."
Adelaide is surprised. There are lots of nuances that they need to consider just to even plant a Treant. Without knowing the information that Harvest Goddess provided to them, perhaps they will have some issues the moment the Treant appear.
Arthur who is listening to the conversation decided to ask another question. He might not be totally in favor of this plan that Adelaide had, but he decided to support her on this. No point stopping her as she will just do it secretly anyways. It is much better if he knows that Adelaide did it rather than not knowing it and only to get surprised later.
"I have a question though. Does the Treants actually eat regularly like animals and humans or is it a one time thing where they needed a sustenance to materialize and grow?" Arthur asked which is a viable question.
"Yeah, I do wanted to know that as well."
The Harvest Goddess rubbed her chin and answered but her answer is a bit vague. "Well, it depends."
"It depends?" Arthur frowned.
"Yeah. You see, the Treants are able to survive by just remaining in the forest. However, there are also records that humans who have found a treant in the wild have regularly fed them crops, meat from animals, fish and other human food which would result for the Treant to actually help and guard that person and their property especially if they live near the forest. Howevee, based on what I know about them, they can survive without sustenance as they are more similar to plants and remain fully sustained as long as it has sufficient sunlight, water and healthy soil to rest in, they don’t necessarily eat anything at all."
"So in short, it is optional?" Arthur clarified her explanation.
"Basically, yes. But if I follow the tales of humans in the past, it indeed a better choice to actually feed the Treant anything. Not only will it become loyal, but it will become a willing worker as well."
Hearing all of that, Adelaide is convinced enough that she will plant the two seeds. Going to the land that Harvest Goddess pointed out, Adelaide pulled out a few of the tall grass and looked for a suitable soil underneath that would allow the seed to survive.
"Arthy, can you pass me the hand shovel and garden hoe?"
"No need to say it, here it is," Arthur is quite proactive as he is already holding the two tools that Adelaide asked for. He even put nearby the Watering can so that Adelaide will not call for it.
With the tools, Adelaide dug two small holes, enough for the two seeds to be buried. She also made sure that the two seeds are far from one another as she suspected that the Treants that may grow from those seeds are big and if they are near each other, whatever seed will grow first might disrupt the growth of the other one.
Once she have placed the seed on the ground and covered it with soil, Adelaide water the areas gently, enough to soak the fuy dug out soil but not too much that it would technically drown the seed.
"Alright, looks like I am done so far!" Adelaide looked proud with what she have done.
"I don’t really know about this...but you do you. Still, you need to put some supplies nearby right? What if the weeds won’t be enough? We can’t afford to have the Ginseng we planted earlier to be included on the things it will eat once it grows up."
"No worries about that, Arthur. We still have a few unharvested corn and peas right? We can use them to substitute for its nutrition," Adelaide pointed over at the corn that are blooming from the corn stalks.
"Really? The corn?"
"What else do you think? The corn is abundant and we can replant the corn faster than other plants. Not only that but it lasts for quite a while once harvested, therefore, I am not too worried it will rot."
"You also need to watch out for rats, small animals and other pests that might try to nibble on the harvested corn," Arthur pointed out.
"Again, Arthy, no need to worry. I have a plan already. Once the supplies that they need are ready, I will put Repellant magic on them so that rats, small animals like raccoons and groundhogs will not dare to touch them. Easy and simple!"
Arthur shook his head. Sometimes, he wonders whether his sister is brilliant and intelligent or just an airhead at times.
"If we follow your logic, won’t the Treants also get repelled by that repellant magic you will be casting? That would cause the Treants to not even consume the supplies as they won’t like it at all! Say Harvest Goddess, does Treants get affected by repellant magic?"
Harvest Goddess shrugged her shoulders. "I don’t know. I am a Harvest Goddess who specialize on regular plant and nature magic, but magic like repellant are out of my mastery and repertoire. You can see and try if it works? I may be a goddess but I am not a magician that has all the capabilities to cast magic spells. Do a trial and error and see if it helps out."
Arthur sighed. How in the heck are they even gonna do a trial and error in the first place?