Then it absorbed the entire box.

Wow, so greedy? She didn’t even have the time to stop it?

Before, she could at least control its absorption by choosing which items to place inside. Now, it directly absorbed the things even when she just touched them.

Her stomach tumbled in regret for the loss of funds. However, her space changed again—substantially so, which softened the blow somehow. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Now, while the height remained at 5 meters, the area was changed to ten meters by ten meters, totaling 500 cubic meters.

For the static area, she could easily expand it too, and it stopped after she expanded to 2 meters by 2 meters area, increasing the total static area to 20 cubic meters, four times bigger than before.

With a bigger static area, she’d stock up takeout from all sorts of delicacies!

Oh, things like cake, ice cream, and so on could not go missing either!

It had also become easier for her to take things into her space. There was still mental strain involved, but her ’cap’ had definitely expanded as well.

She tested things, and she realized she could move things in bulk, but more in modules or groups. As long as they were stacked together, she could move them together.

That said, the planters were separate and had to be moved separately.

That afternoon, they left the twins to teach the three cousins some basic math, while Naia was taken by her grandmother to the nursery. Later, when the sun loses some of its heat, they would go around the farms as well.

Grandma only kept an acre of farmland for her own use, renting out the rest. So this farmland had a bit of everything, and Naia was determined to learn as much as she could.

Although the plants seemed to thrive inside the space, if she knew how to grow them well, wouldn’t the space’s multiplier become even more of a cheat?

Anyway, the lessons started at the seedling stage. A plant nursery was where plants were propagated, grown, and cared for until they were ready for transplanting, sale, or further cultivation.

Young plants were fragile. Putting them in nurseries first would increase their survival rates by folds.

Grandma’s nursery was delineated by a simple shed structure, located on a slightly elevated, well-drained area near the water source.

It was divided into the seedbed area or germination tray area, the potting area (where seedlings were transferred to pots), the hardening area (where the plants were gradually ’trained’ for harsher conditions), and a storage corner.

When she entered, the first things she saw were rows of small trays and pots with various plants. They looked very cute in her eyes and she thought of how nice it would be to place all these things in her space.

"Seeds and seedlings are the most vulnerable stage," Grandma said, guiding her in front of the little ones. "This is the most difficult stage. You lose them here, you lose everything."

Grandma then began a crash course for Naia, as she requested. Grandma taught her how to handle plants as well as the seedlings. She first asked about the plants already in her space such as cabbage, tomato, carrots, and so on.

Then she also guided her about seedling care. She taught her how much water each type needed, how much light, the spacing they needed, what to do when transplanting, and so on.

"You’re not raising crops here yet, you’re raising potential," Grandma said, becoming poetic when it came to plants.

Naia had her notebook out. She had an excellent memory, but the notes would still be very useful.

It so happened that there was a new area to be filled with new seedlings, having been cleared of the transferred little ones.

Naia watched her grandmother prepare seedling trays and nursery pots. "Can I also have some for my own use?"

Grandma blinked but did not discourage her adventurous and scholarly spirit. She nodded, not really minding if they wasted a few seeds.

Later, Grandma would realize that there was no such seed wastage. It was quite the opposite.

This was, of course, something for later.

The grandma-granddaughter pair filled up the trays together, using the crops that thrived in nurseries—like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and some herbs. Some species didn’t tolerate transplantation well, like root crops, so they were sown directly into the fields.

When Grandma left after doing her part, Naia then began her own experiments. She faced the trays she now owned and mimicked the steps she learned. She made two sets, keeping one half outside and the other in her space.

With this, she could get a more intuitive difference between the growth cycles inside and outside the space.

Speaking of the space, as time passed, she had grown to understand it more and more.

She felt the energy, the changes, and so on, so intimately that it felt like it was an appendage.

She vaguely felt the energy that flowed in the space, and this energy was very similar to her ability. The difference was that it didn’t surround a weapon, but circulating in an entire place.

She could vaguely tell that everything she planted would grow well, and the space would automatically convert her energy into whatever the plants needed.

She could just tell. It was like how people felt pain, and they’d know that their body had been warning them about something. Intuition told her, and she was interested to learn more about it.

Such a magical thing naturally wasn’t endless. The space itself was fixed, but the growth rate—which she could not pace—and the static area passively consumed a bit of energy. The energy, so far, could come from certain metals, gems, and jade she had placed in.

When she placed new plants inside, she could feel a bit more energy was being absorbed. The entry of the plants into her space consumed quite a bit. It would then stabilize after a while until the consumption was nearly negligible, if one only counted per-plant consumption.

While the current functions should remain for decades, this duration would lessen the more she put in. The space had grown bigger again, so of course she would put more plants inside. Hence, getting more gems was imperative.

She stared at the rows of baby plants in front of her, absent-mindedly tapping on a random pot.

Should she just rob a mine or something?