CHAPTER 115: CHAPTER 115: FIGURING OUT HER POWER

After all the discussion at Evan’s office, Zerra was inexplicably excited. They could grow edible plants soon, not the poisonous or mutated ones.

If only her space could be used for farming too. She couldn’t wait to upgrade her power and unlock more features of her space. She just wasn’t sure at what level she should be able to use it for farming.

Now, the time within her space was still stagnant.

She returned home not long after, greeted by her mom’s bread and pastries. Luckily, she had stocked quite a few gas cylinders, enough for her mom to use as she pleased for cooking.

Her dad had just returned too, stinking of an unpleasant, rancid smell. There were some external wounds on his skin. Leaves and branches also stuck in his hair.

Nerith held her nose. She had strictly told him, "You stink. Go take a bath!"

Alaric proceeded to tease his wife by getting closer, and Nerith ran away as her husband chased after her.

Zerra’s mouth twitched. She turned to Laziel, who had stood beside her. He also turned to her, and they sighed together.

They both turned and walked away. The parents were embarrassed when they found out about the kids standing nearby. Facing his wife’s glare, Alaric finally cleared his throat and went to wash up.

Alaric had unexpectedly advanced to a level two ability user. When he announced it during dinner, Zerra couldn’t help but give him more earth attribute crystal cores.

It would cut her food ration. However, her dad’s advancement was more important.

"Don’t force yourself once you cannot bear it anymore." Zerra exhorted. "Gradual accumulation is better. It will strengthen your foundation."

Unlike her, who was practically a walking cheat, the entire family couldn’t eat crystal cores directly and had to use specific attributes crystal cores to be absorbed.

However, the concept of drawing energy from the crystal core was familiar to her. It was like drawing spiritual energy from spirit stones.

"Alright. Don’t worry about it." Alaric assured his daughter as he pocketed the earth attribute crystal cores. After he did so, he couldn’t help but feel bad. Wasn’t the crystal core her daughter’s food?

Nyra wasn’t present, so he divided the crystal cores he had gotten from exterminating zombies and mutated animals. "Give one here to your eldest sister."

It wasn’t much, but he still shared the crystal core evenly between the three of them, minus the ones that suited his earth attribute.

"Dad, don’t you need them yourself too?" Laziel asked in bewilderment.

"It’s your pocket money," Alaric casually said.

He scratched his head. "What if you want to buy things when you are outside?"

"What do I need to buy?" Alaric paused for a moment, realizing that Laziel didn’t know about his space ring yet. He hadn’t intended to tell him yet. "Zerra has everything we need here."

"Nyra also occasionally brought things to our home," Alaric added.

Even though it was a form of her resistance. Nyra still didn’t want to feel indebted to them, so she treated it as some kind of exchange. She would bring ingredients like flour, grains, sugar, and a lot more.

It wasn’t easy to make Nyra warm up to people. It was even harder for people who had once wronged her...

"Thank you, Dad," Zerra muttered sweetly before storing the crystal cores away and digging into her food.

The family members were extremely diligent, and the trend was unexpectedly started by Laziel. After dinner time, they would stay in their room to withdraw the energy from the crystal cores.

The second fog had passed for a while. After the abrupt boost that people and other creatures received during the fog, their advancement also began to slow down a lot.

Zerra was a bit envious when she saw her dad and brother drawing energy from the crystal core. She wanted to have an awakened ability too.

Cassias had said with certainty that she would have one too soon. If he said so, then she would, right? She recalled Laziel’s previous situation. Maybe her condition was like him. Her latent power needed stimulation.

"Zee, what are you doing?" Laziel was inexplicably a little panicked when he saw Zerra standing at the kitchen sink, dozing off. She was in the middle of washing the dishes.

What was this mischievous girl up to again? He couldn’t help but overthink it. Usually, she always used various means to make him do it. Gradually, he was a little used to it too.

It was always him who did it until Zerra broke the pattern today. Oh, he might have been brainwashed a little, but still...

"Let me do it." Laziel shooed her away from the kitchen. Looking at the water in the basin, Zerra must have taken it from her space.

Zerra pursed her lips when Laziel pushed her away. She scratched her head in confusion. Even washing dishes couldn’t stimulate her power, so it might not have been water.

For the next week, she spent her time figuring out what her power might be, using every means possible to stimulate it. Like playing in the mud, staring at the burning candle...

In the end, she nearly gave up all ideas.

"Cassias, what kind of power will I awaken in the future? What do you think?" She propped her face with one hand, staring at him with a tilted head.

He hummed before answering. "It’s not possible to guess what kind of power you will have before you truly awaken it..."

Still unable to get an answer, Zerra decided to visit Isryn at the Research Institute to relieve her slightly depressed heart. Exhaustion often painted Isryn’s countenance, but her eyes were bright.

She seemed happy working at the Research Institute, taking care of its garden. Zerra had visited her a few times too. The plants there were indeed fascinating.

With her wood ability, Isryn could promote their growth. Although it would make her complexion turn pale fast, her eyes would sparkle; she truly enjoyed her task.

Even Zerra could not resist the allure of the interesting plants there. The scientists there were actually quite friendly. They would pull her to introduce all sorts of unique plants that had spawned since the apocalypse.

"Hiss, I am sorry!"

Zerra nearly stumbled, but she steadied herself in time. However, the person in front of her wasn’t so lucky.

He had fallen down, and in his hands, there was a broken pot and green, lush vegetation that was now showing its roots. The soil scattered everywhere.

Her heart jumped.