A Single Mother's Farm of the Gods
Chapter 304: The Deep Woods Witch [I]

Chapter 304: The Deep Woods Witch [I]

A few weeks passed by after the first attacks started. Elaina was wondering what happened to the attackers since they suddenly stopped doing those things not too long ago. She didn’t do anything that would cause them to stop and there has been no news that there were dead bodies of some hooded individuals currently lying on the ground outside the farm’s gate so it is a bit of a mystery how they suddenly stopped their previous plans.

At first, she thought that those guys switched tactics and would do something else to damage the farm. But there was nothing so her wait ended up being wasted. Still, considering they stopped, Elaina no longer needed to keep on cleaning up the farmlands for any stray defused Exploding rocks as there weren’t any left and her remaining free time in the morning has been freed in the process.

"Morning Sis...oh, you are dressed differently today, are you going to the forest?" Julia asked when Elaina came out from her room dressed up and covered all over.

"Yes. Since there is nothing much for me to do on the farm in the morning considering most of the menial work is all being done by the Feys, I decided that I would go visit the forest and look for stuff to forage for. Might as well try to see if I can hunt for some minor game as well and bring a bit of its meat," Elaina said as she grabbed the bag on the corner and made sure it was empty and free of space.

"Ha...I wanted to join you on this one but I will be skipping for today. Adelaide will be upset with me if I also don’t teach her brother later."

Elaina chuckled. "Looks like Adelaide is very serious about making you Arthur’s teacher huh? Still, that is a good thing. I know you can do it."

After the events that lead to Elaina learning Adelaide’s advanced development, Adelaide has been learning in advance that Julia personally took over Elaina’s mantle to teach her many things, especially around magic considering Elaina is not even able to cast magic.

Then, out of nowhere, Adelaide begged Julia for her to teach Arthur personally and get him to study as well. Elaina is aware that Arthur is not the same as Adelaide in terms of development but for a baby, Arthur is also not on a normal scale, but he isn’t as abnormal in development as Adelaide, just right.

"Recently, I found Arthur just looking at you during the time you are busy farming. It seems he is more fascinated with doing the work on the farm than doing anything else," Julia said as she scratched her head with a sigh.

"That is fine, Julia. Considering that he is still growing, finding something he finds fun in his eyes is normal. Perhaps teaching him a bit would allow him to get new things to take interest in. As much as I want to personally teach both of my twins, the things I can teach them personally are things that they can only do once they can stand and talk on their own. Until then, I will be putting my trust in you, Julia."

Julia sighed and reluctantly nodded.

"Alright, what’s for breakfast?" Elaina asked as she sat down at the table.

"Sausage and Hencluckle sunny side up with toasted bread. Drinks is your regular coffee."

The two ate breakfast together and discussed things related to the twins as time slowly passed by.

...

...

...

Inside the forest.

The forest remained the same as before. Full of resources and full of various things to take. Various spring nuts and wild vegetables are so common so far that Elaina forgot to count all of those stuff after it passed over 10.

"It has been so long since I last started foraging but to be able to grab lots of the forest’s treasures, this is quite a lot, I must say," Elaina muttered to herself as she picked up another herb that she quickly shoved in her bag.

Thanks to the almanac easily giving Elaina access to where the herbs and forageables are located, Elaina is having an easy time. And thanks to her gathering a lot of forageables, Elaina’s foraging skill increased.

"Well, I didn’t expect to see a level change in one of my skills. Considering that most of my skills haven’t grown so far past level one these past few months, it is a bit of a surprise that foraging would be the first skill to reach level 2...I thought it would be farming for sure but I guess it doesn’t matter. They will remain beneficial in the end."

"[Considering that there are only small chances that you do foraging, I decided to lower lessen the necessary experience to grow in foraging compared to other categories. And since the rewards I can give are a bit limited for foraging, foraging is one that is very easy to level. But considering that you have been foraging a lot these past few hours skillfully, it is only natural for you to have growth,]" the God of Farming explained to Elaina after she noticed the fast experience gained in her foraging skill.

"It is great and all, but it would have been a better idea if all of my skills were balanced this way so that I would not have to have a hard time leveling a single skill."

"[No can do. You should be lucky that you can see your growth compared to the others. Unlike foraging which is hard at first but easy to master, the other skills are easy to start but hard to master. You should understand that much, alright?]"

Checking on her foraging skill, after it leveled up, Elaina will now have a better and easier time spotting forageables and can easily spot a hidden area that contains things to forage. She also has an increased chance of finding rare forageables the longer she stays in a forest and gathering items, making it worthwhile for Elaina to stay around for more.

Elaina smiled seeing these changes and continued her way around the forest, hoping that a chance encounter with rare forageables would allow happen soon. Before, her usual route in foraging should be following the regular trail. Although the forest seems to always change a lot in layout, many places remain the same, only with a different look every day, allowing Elaina to quickly recognize landmarks and other areas of the forest after the forest changes layouts most of the time.

Which is why she is currently walking in a different area than usual. An unfamiliar place that Elaina and Julia have yet to explore before.

"I think it is fair to say that this place should be called the Deep Woods. This place is much different than the usual forest," Elaina said to herself as she looked around her surroundings and observed the flora of the place.

Compared to the regular areas of the forest, the deeper parts of the forest smell differently, like she can smell various grasses all over the place and the musty scent of wood and the feeling of dampness all around is very common. Compared to the previous area, the place is much more overgrown, and tall trees almost cover the sky.

The bushes are much darker in color and the weeds on the ground floor are already carpeting the forest floor. But thanks to that, various goods are present for Elaina to take like mushrooms and various herbs that just by walking around, she already found a few rare mushrooms that should not be growing in this kingdom that are edible. She even double-checked it using her almanac to ensure she didn’t pick up a look-alike.

"Wow...a shiitake? I thought that these mushrooms were just some mushrooms exclusive to the Far East. Didn’t think I would see one in the wild just like this. Maybe it was my foraging skill working and doing some wonders?" Elaina wondered as she admired the Shiitake she harvested.

"[That shouldn’t be possible considering that it doesn’t change any of the surrounding’s number of forageables. What you see is what you get. If you are getting a lot of stuff, that is because you easily spotted them, not because I manipulated and increased the loot in the surroundings.]"

"Then you mean, this mushroom in my hands is naturally growing in these parts?!"

"[That should be the case.]"

Hearing this, Elaina started to search the area for more stuff to pick up when all of a sudden, Elaina saw a big, round creature walking around. Fearing it was a predator, Elaina immediately hid by crouching on the tall grass. With how tall the grass is, the moment one crouches on it, they will be able to hide as long as they stay still.

"What the heck is that?" Elaina frowned as she glanced at the moving creature. It looks like a stuffed toy but considering that it is moving on its own, it isn’t a stuffed toy but a living creature.

Just as she thought things would not get weirder, Elaina felt the presence of someone not too far from the creature.

"Ola, come here. We should be done gathering the necessary ingredients. Let’s go home."

Elaina instinctively held her sword. That person just now...even without the ability to detect magic...for once...she managed to feel the power of mana all around her. One that no regular human should possess.