Chapter 79: Chapter 78 – Judgy Nole

Jason can understand not wanting a rabbit in a plant store. So as not keep Nole waiting a simple nod and Jason brings out his herbs. Jason points at each plant in order and explains what he did, “This first herb I pruned off any flowers so it couldn’t develop any berries. The plant itself has grown well without any berries. However I don’t know if this plant can continue to grow like this. The next herb I only let a single berry grow on. I found the way the berry absorbed the Energy from the leaves interesting. Besides that it forced the berry to the fullest maturity possible. Now these three plants all currently have five berries a piece. Only one had that number to start. The other two had 10 and 20 berries. When they were classically mature, I harvested berries till they were down to the five.” Then Jason takes out the picked berries he has left. The ones without stems have dried because of the backpacks properties while the stemmed berries looked freshly picked though the leaves had almost no glow left to them. Gesturing to them Jason explains, “These are the berries I harvested. As a test some I harvested with a couple leaves still attached. It worked out to keep them fresh. However I don’t know what the properties of the dried berries will be. This is actually part of why I came here. I wanted to learn how to harvest the berries. Anyway on to the last plant. This one I let grow as many berries as it very well pleased to. It actually grew a few more than currently on it. When maturing some of the berries too close to others did not grow and came off. Also a few are missing because I fed them to Lily, my rabbit. After this I plan to grow more of the herbs. Though I want do grow other plants. Some herbs that would grow well with these and not compete. So what is your opinion on them?”

All throughout Jason’s explanation Nole had been poking and prodding the plants. After Jason finishes, he looks up from the plants and gestures to Jason to inspect something. He points at the stem of the plant, “I like your pruning method but you started too late. The stem here has signs of buckling. If you want a bush, grow a bush. Next time start before it grows too tall.” Nole turns to the berryless plant and has Jason touch the leaves. There is an almost dry texture to the leaves. Nole nods, “Yes, your instincts that the plant would not last forever was right. Already you can tell that the leaves cuticle has decomposed. While they look full of Energy, this is a hollow promise. The Energy is attempting to balance with the atmosphere and when leaving the leaves strips the protections. They burn so bright but will soon snuff out. For future attempts let every plant grow at least a few berries as their presence will extend the plants lifespan.” Finished with that plant Nole taps one leaf next to the solitary berry on the second plant. Even though he didn’t tap hard, the leave almost shatters as bits break off. Nole then has Jason rub the still waxy leaves with a healthy glow on the other side of the plant. He explains, “Your berry is over mature. The leaves next to it got sucked dry as while it is taking from the leaves further away it still is absorbing from the closer ones. These leaves are worthless because it has taken even the moisture in them. On the other side however the leaves are pristine or so you would think. They will last longer than the previous one but are starting the process. I don’t expect you to be able to tell this as I have an advantage from my species.” Jason knows what is coming so touches a leaf from each of the five berry plants. Nole smiles at this and explains, “They feel the same as the other far side leaves on the last. However it is not an illusion on these. While they are drying out a little bit the plants will last at least twice as long. In fact I can tell this plant on the left was the one that started with five berries. It will last 3 times as long. If you reduced the number of berries down to 3 or maybe 4 they can last 5 times as long.” Jason goes to poke the last plant but Nole stops him, “Not this one. If you want to know how it feels then touch the dry leaves on the plant with a single berry. These won’t shatter mind you. However because there are so many berries the only thing keeping them intact is the plants desire to finish growing the berries. This one is almost a little sad, the plant is dying to grow the berries and by doing so they cannot finish growing the berries. My advice is just keep feeding them to the ra… to Lily. Once the last berry is gone, the plant will die. No question about it. I am tempted to ban you for growing a plant like this but you were clearly experimenting with something new to you. If you had been trying to grow as many berries as possible you would be out of the store in 5 seconds flat. Anyway all that is left are these harvested berries. The dry ones are amazing but that is how cheaty the backpack is. These are very hard to dry properly. Keep them in your backpack as it prevent most of the Energy loss while letting the moisture to leave. As for these other berries? Clever of you to harvest with a couple of leaves. While most people use containers made of special materials, this will work in a pinch for almost every energy bearing fruit to preserve them. The bigger the fruit or the more energy dense it is the more leaves you want to take with it. This of course means that at a certain point you can’t use this method anymore. If only because you would need to take the whole plant or more than the plant to keep it fresh.”