Sienna quickly stored the corn seeds back into the warehouse.
She decided to wait and confirm it with the current crops before wasting gold.
Then she turned her attention to the underground water ball.
With a thought, the massive sphere of water floated out of the warehouse and hovered in the air beside her, still perfectly round, still clear, still stable.
Sienna watched it for a moment, then the system voice rang out again.
“New item discovered: Underground River Water.
Quality: good.
Suitable for crop irrigation.
Nutrient content can be enhanced with space purification.”
Then, just like before, another message followed.
“Due to the discovery of a new item, space was upgraded to Level 4.
Reward: two bags of wheat seeds.
Each bag can plant 500 sq.
meters.”
Sienna’s breath caught.
Wheat.
Corn.
Radish.
If this continued, she could build an entire food system in the space.
But the final prompt made her heart race even faster.
“Space water upgraded to Level 2.
Growth acceleration increased to eleven times.”
Sienna stood in silence, staring at the water ball.
Then she slowly smiled.
A smile that was sharp, excited, and full of hunger.
She had brought in soil and water.
And the space had rewarded her with power.
If that was the rule…
Then, this space was not just a tool.
It was a world.
A world that grew stronger with every new thing she fed into it.
Sienna’s eyes gleamed as she wherpered to herself.
“So that’s how it works…”
She looked at the farmland, the spring, the warehouse, and the quiet hut.
Then her voice became low and firm, as if she were making a vow.
“One day sooner or later… This space will turn my wasteland into paradise.”
After a while, Sienna tossed the floating sphere of underground water back into the spring at the center of the Spatial Farm, and the moment it touched the clear surface, it dissolved without a splash, as though a drop of rain had returned to the sea that had given birth to it in the first place.
The water was clean, the system had confirmed that much, and there was no reason to let it hover uselessly in the air when the little spring seemed more than capable of swallowing it whole.
When that was done, her eyes shifted slowly toward the mound of black soil resting a short distance away.
The pile was not especially large, rising only to about the height of her knee, but to Sienna, it might as well have been a mountain of gold.
That dark, greasy earth represented the future of House Vale.
If it could be purified, then the dead land outside the castle walls could be revived.
But if it could not, then all of her plans would remain trapped inside this pocket world, useful but ultimately limited, as a sword locked in a chest while enemies gathered at the gate.
She stood in silence for a while, her fingers lightly brushing against her chin as she stared at the black soil, her eyes narrowing with the focused intensity of a chess player studying ten moves ahead.
The Spatial Farm had already informed her that both space soil and spring water could transform this mutated land, but she did not rush forward like a child with a new toy.
On Earth, she had been an ordinary woman, but she had also been the sort of person who understood that if you spent your last coin recklessly, you would soon discover how expensive impatience could be.
“A farmer who eats all his seeds in one winter,” she thought, “may enjoy one night of fullness, but in spring he will have nothing to plant.”
That thought settled her mind.
She drew in a slow breath and said clearly, “Iron shovel, divide this pile into ten equal portions.”
The command had barely left her lips when the soil trembled.
Before the iron shovel even twitched, the mound split on its own, each portion sliding apart as neatly as if invisible hands had measured and separated them with perfect precision.
Sienna blinked.
For a moment, she simply stood there, watching the ten small piles resting side by side like obedient soldiers awaiting inspection.
Then a slow smile spread across her face.
“So,” she murmured, folding her arms beneath her chest, “once something enters this space, it becomes part of my kingdom.”
Her eyes gleamed.
“If that is true…”
She lifted her chin and said, “Space, calculate the optimal ratio of space soil and spring water required to transform this black soil.”
The reply came immediately.
[Exceeded permissions, cannot be calculated!]
Sienna stared for a second, then exhaled sharply through her nose.
“Of course,” she muttered, shaking her head.
“When the road turns steep, one must still climb with one’s own feet.”
There was no point complaining.
The heavens had handed her a miraculous tool, but they had not offered to do her thinking for her.
So she picked up the wooden bucket and dipped it into the spring, filling it with clear water that shimmered like liquid glass.
Then she scooped a quantity of rich brown space soil with the small iron shovel, handling it carefully, her movements deliberate, precise, and thoughtful.
She wanted to know exactly how much of each resource was needed because the Spatial Farm was no longer a game.
It was the pillar supporting her life, the hidden foundation beneath House Vale’s future.
If she wasted too much of the space soil and somehow weakened the farm itself, it would be like burning the beams of one’s own house to cook a single meal.
And if this place collapsed, then every plan she had made would vanish like mist under the morning sun.
She knelt before the first pile of black soil and poured spring water over it.
The effect was immediate.
The water seeped into the dark earth, and the greasy, oily texture began to retreat, inch by inch, as though some hidden poison was being driven out.
The sharp black sheen faded, replaced by the soft, healthy color of fertile soil, and the sand-like grit crumbled into fine earth that looked alive.
Sienna’s eyes widened.
The transformation was so sudden and so complete that it reminded her of the stories from the Mahabharata, where barren lands blossomed under divine blessing and cursed kingdoms were restored by a single touch of sacred water.
She leaned closer, her heartbeat quickening.
After the first pile was fully transformed, she carefully measured what she had used and made the calculation.
Approximately fifteen parts black soil to one part spring water.
A pleased smile touched her lips.
“That is better than I expected.”
She moved to the second pile and used only the space soil.
This time, the transformation was slower, but the resulting earth looked even richer, darker, and more nourishing, like the black soil of the most fertile plains on Earth.
But the cost was higher.
The ratio was roughly ten parts black soil to one part space soil.
Sienna frowned thoughtfully.
“More effective, but too expensive.”
Then came the real testing.
For the third pile, she used both space water and space soil in a nine-to-one ratio.
Successful.
The fourth pile, eight-to-two.
Successful.
Seven-to-three.
Successful.
But when she reached four to six, the transformed earth finally matched the quality of the soil produced using pure space soil.
She continued to compare the results carefully, running the fine grains between her fingers, feeling their moisture and softness, lifting small handfuls to test their weight and texture.
At five-to-five, there was no noticeable improvement over four-to-six.
At six-to-four, the results remained equally excellent.
Sienna slowly rose to her feet and wiped the soil from her hands.
The answer was clear.
Using space water and space soil in a six-to-four ratio produced the best balance between cost and quality.
It gave the richest soil while minimizing waste.
She let out a long breath, and with it, some of the pressure inside her chest seemed to dissolve.
This was enough.
More than enough.
She returned the bucket to its place, restored the remaining soil, and left the Spatial Farm.
***
Back in her room, Sienna sat quietly on the edge of her bed, her fingers resting against her knees as she sorted through everything she had learned.
The Spatial Farm had reached Level 4.
The land could be expanded.
The black wasteland could be purified.
And she now possessed a workable formula for restoring dead soil.
Outside, spring had already begun.
This was the season when seeds met earth, and earth answered with life.
If she delayed too long, the planting season would slip away like water through open fingers.
She mentally reviewed her resources.
Two hundred gold coins.
Six bags of forage seeds.
Two bags of cabbage seeds.
Two bags of corn seeds.
Two bags of wheat seeds.
And eighty thousand kilograms of radishes are stored safely in the warehouse.
That was the entirety of House Vale’s hidden wealth.