A Single Mother's Farm of the Gods
Chapter 176: The Surviving Summer Experimental Crop

Chapter 176: The Surviving Summer Experimental Crop

Morning arrived and Elaina was currently preparing things when she remembered something. She went to the refrigerator and pulled out one of the fruits with a diamond shape exterior and put it on the table.

"Ha, I almost forgot about this thing," Elaina said as she observed the fruit.

"[Hmmm? What is that?]" the God of Farming asked.

"Don’t you remember? The seeds you gave me during summer to evaluate but ended up getting destroyed during the troubles? Well, there is only one plant that survived and was able to produce a fruit before autumn arrived. It has grown at least three fruits so far and I stored it in the fridge to let it chill and avoid getting rotten."

"[Huh, I have totally forgotten about that. I thought all of them were destroyed in the process so I decided to just let the summer crops experiments slide and move to autumn crops instead since it is too late to plant a new one.]"

"Well, the Feys managed to salvage it and I didn’t know about it either. Only during the time the harvesting happened that they said they had harvested these as well. I forgot about it until today so it took a while before I remembered."

"[Then, how about you taste it? Check it out and see for yourself what kind of fruit it was to add it on observation?]"

"I guess. According to the Feys, this was the second-row plant that I planted which means only the second plant will be updated and can be tested."

"[That’s fine. I wasn’t expecting it anyways, so seeing there was something that survived, that’s a better thing.]"

Elaina snaps her fingers for the Almanac to appear in the air as she grabs a knife on the knife rack and readies the fruit. From the looks of it, the exterior cannot be eaten. It might look like a diamond, but it doesn’t seem to be as hard as a diamond as it can be sliced with a knife. Not by hand though as the fruit is harder to handle by bare hands only.

With the knife in hand, she slowly sliced the fruit into two. It was hard at first since the diamond shape is a bit annoying to balance. Compared to other shapes, the diamond shape is not the most ideal shape you will find in a fruit that needs to be sliced to open.

Still, after she sliced it open, its blue and sweet-smelling flesh was exposed and Elaina liked the smell a lot. It was like she was smelling a very expensive perfume that is usually used by wealthy people. Not too pungent, but not too annoying in the nose either. In short, it smells great.

But despite the sweet-smelling aroma coming from the fruit, Elaina is currently on guard at the moment. Due to her experience with the previous experimental crops, Elaina is not going to just let the fruit fool her. There is a high chance that the fruit does have a good smell but tastes so bad, that puking is a very good option.

First, she dipped her fingers into the flesh. It is squishy and soft. It’s not bad to feel and it feels like it is cream instead of fruit flesh. Scooping a bit of it allows Elaina to obtain a creamy puff on her fingers. It was like the bubbles that are produced by soaps.

She prepared a glass of water on the side as a precaution before she put the cream puff in her mouth and tasted it. And to her surprise, instead of what she was expecting, the fruit was a lot better than she expected.

"What in the world...is this ice cream?" Elaina was surprised. It was a new flavor but she could tell that it tasted like some sort of ice cream. It’s cold to the mouth but it melts as soon as it touches your tongue. The sweet feeling also lingered in the mouth long enough before it turned bad for the person eating. She just couldn’t believe that what she was eating was indeed not an ice cream from the very beginning.

"[Well? How is it?]" the God of Farming asked.

"This is incredible. It doesn’t look like it is ice cream and yet, it feels like I am eating one. It’s cold feeling and its melting sensation is so close to ice cream that you won’t even notice you are eating a fruit and not an ice cream to begin with!"

"[In short, it is good?]" the God of Farming seems to be delighted by the result.

"Indeed. My expectations were low, but somehow, they got redeemed by this fruit alone. This is a good fruit, yes!" Elaina scoops a few more of its flesh using her fingers and just licks it off. It was just that good for Elaina.

As Elaina was taking her time enjoying the fruit, a few taps on the door currently disturbed Elaina’s attention to the fruit.

"Is someone there?"

However, there is no response.

Elaina immediately grabbed her sword and readied herself. She can’t afford to be low on guard as there are previous accounts of troubles in the farm and she didn’t want to have more trouble happening again.

But then, Zaza taps on the window beside the door, as well as Shardu, seemingly worried as a few more noises are catching Elaina’s attention.

Elaina was confused about why the two were currently making noises when they are usually quiet most of the time so she opened the door and as she opened the door, a figure almost have fallen to the floor if not for Zaza who quickly used his body to catch the one who stumbles.

She didn’t know who this person was at first but soon realized who it was the moment she saw the clothes. It was none other than Princess Tabatha. As for her current state, it was a weird one and she didn’t like what she was seeing.

"Zaza, Shardu, can you help me carry her to the sofa and let her lie there?"

The two nodded and together, they carried the body of Princess Tabatha to the sofa. On the other hand, Elaina went upstairs and knocked on Julia and Princess Margaux’s rooms in a hurry before she returned to the living room to see what truly happened to Princess Tabatha.

When she returns, Shardu and Zaza are waiting beside Princess Tabatha who is struggling with her current troubles. Elaina observed the situation and the current situation of Princess Tabatha and soon realized why she looked weird.

"This is petrification..." Elaina’s mood turned grim.

There are two types of Petrification status ailments known to man. The instantaneous and the slow but steady petrification. And what Princess Tabatha was currently suffering from is the second type, slow and steady.

Her body is indeed petrified but not all of her body is fully turned to stone. Some parts of her body are still flesh but it is gradually turning into one. Half of her body is already petrified. Her left hand and right foot are already turned to stone, half of her face is also stone and her mouth couldn’t speak as it is already hardened as a rock as well. She has trouble moving and the only one that is still moving around is her right eye which is still not petrified by the status condition, showing that she is still alive.

"Don’t worry, we will help you. Just relax and focus on yourself. Resist it," Elaina said to Princess Tabatha. She doesn’t know how petrification works but she is just trying to pep up Princess Tabatha while the two girls are still getting ready.

Soon enough, Julia and Princess Margaux hurriedly came down and saw the current situation that Princess Tabatha was in.

"Sis!"

"What is going on?" Julia rushes to Elaina’s side before she is surprised on Princess Tabatha’s situation.

"What is happening to my sister?!" Princess Margaux immediately held Princess Tabatha but Elaina stopped her.

"Don’t touch her princess, we can’t afford her to get broken in an accident while she is petrified," Julia said as she calmly assessed the situation.

"Can you help, Julia?" Elaina asked.

"I am not sure just yet, Sis."

Julia performed a cleansing spell. It was a basic one and since it was cleansing, it was not crappy compared to her healing spell, and tried her best to revert the changes.

But there was no effect. Julia frowned and she didn’t like what was happening to Princess Tabatha. The petrification status is also spreading as well since her other parts of the body are also getting turned into stone as well.

"Urgh...I can’t..." Julia slumped down on the floor as sweat fell on her face and her lips were pale.

"You alright Julia?"

"I am fine. But I can’t remove her petrification...it is too strong."

"No...no...don’t let my sister become stone!" Princess Margaux is now fearing of the current situation. However...what can she do?

Elaina also has no other idea on how to deal with it. After all, she hasn’t experienced nor dealt with petrification before. This is her first time seeing one.

As she was not sure what was happening, the God of Farming suddenly gave her a suggestion.

"[Elaina, try using the diamond fruit and apply a few creams to her petrified body. See what is happening next.]"