After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World

Around this time, Bart and the others finally arrived to see what was going on, with everyone having some sort of treatment and bandage on their bodies.

Quite a few of them sustained injuries during the war. After all, Basset really sent almost every one of their powerhouses in this war. Even they had their hands full. They were exhausted and were settling in the hospital, thinking they could rest well. However, when they found out Garan was in danger, they rushed over.

They were shocked when they felt a heavy energy surround the makeshift clinic, but they entered anyway despite the foreboding energy that felt... threatening.

Hoffen, Zaol, and Gregor also arrived right behind them, surprised to feel the odd atmosphere around.

Other than Zaol, the rest of the Golds, on the other hand, were tasked to keep order along with the majority of the remaining teams since the 28 hours were not over yet, so anything could still happen.

Anyway, even Gregor—a level 60 genius—felt a slight sense of threat, he could imagine what Bart and the others were feeling.

The makeshift clinic was not big, so they could only enter when most of the people inside, including the healers, had left. Bart’s people also couldn’t squeeze in, so only their leader headed inside.

Which was fortunate, because they really didn’t want to go near the source of that uncomfortable feeling.

It felt like a power beyond their imagination, as if it could take their lives at any time. No one would want to be there, right?

”What is this?” Bart gasped. It felt a bit uncomfortable before, but when he got closer, even his walking felt heavier.

”So much power...” Zaol mumbled. He was standing still, seemingly not much affected, but he narrowed his eyes at the still man on the bed. ”How is this possible?”

The reason why children could not level up too early was because their bodies could not handle a lot of aether. Similarly, this man... was releasing too much of it.

He should have exploded long ago.

Even he hadn’t seen anything quite like it.

Like Vara and Feller, he naturally knew of the magic tool that could help improve the quality of an element, but he didn’t think it had anything to do with this case.

That tool was relatively common among the nobility of big Cities, with each high noble having at least one, usually given to the current heir as he was growing up.

The Golds, Hoffen, and Gregor knew that the tool—aptly called Mana Regulator—could consolidate the user’s aether to help them focus it more. This would reduce the wastage and leaks of each attack.

This created an extremely efficient use of mana which might make a technique feel a lot stronger than unfiltered ones, but ultimately the power gap shouldn’t be too wide.

Anyway, this meant that none of them had any idea what was going on which was extremely disconcerting. As high-ranked people from Cities, they could be said to be the most knowledgeable about this world. Seeing something they didn’t recognize was a bit imbalancing.

Hoffen, if this were someone he didn’t know, would even be fascinated and curious. Sadly, the man’s an ’in-law’ so he was more worried than curious at this time.

At this, Hoffen turned to look at Althea, whose eyes were red and her entire demeanor filled with anxiety.

She was holding on to the man without obvious damage, but he worried there could be effects they couldn’t see.

”I don’t think you should be so near him, apprentice.”

She shook her head. ”No, I’ll be fine,” was all she said, and that was that.

Hoffen had grown quite aware of how stubborn this student of his could get. Instead, he focused on what he could find out.

He used his own assessment skills to look at the aura that surrounded the young man.

He had never seen anything so... dense.

To compare: If everyone’s auras were like smoke, Garan’s was almost like a... gel.

Why?

”What is it, Master?” Althea asked when she saw him unmoving for so long.

”It’s really powerful,” he said after a pause. ”More than the amount, it is the quality,” Hoffen added, looking at Gregory. ”I’m afraid even Gregory’s element is inferior.”

”But isn’t it dangerous?” She asked. ”Wouldn’t he just let everything out like this? What if he—”

She bit her lips and her eyes teared up, but she held it back. She couldn’t break down. If she did, then wasn’t that accepting her husband’s condition was hopeless?

It was very rare to see the always graceful Althea like this, and it broke everyone’s hearts.

Hoffen looked at Garan and walked closer. As an alchemist who had specialized in potions related to the human body, he had also awakened a skill similar to the healers’ scanning abilities.

Activating the skill, he started to see more than just the ’gel’, seeing more of what it was composed of.

He concentrated and saw that the gel was becoming firmer, and the gassy edges were slowly settling down, strand by strand.

The gel should not be a bad thing. It was just that as it consolidated, it affected the surrounding area, making it feel heavy for everyone else.

”It’s stabilizing,” he said, turning to Althea. ”His body seems to be handling things on his own. Don’t worry too much.”

Althea’s eyes were red in worry, but she tried her best not to lose it. She also used the Eye to see more, though the detail was a bit different from what her master could see.

Regardless, even if she did see, she wouldn’t have had any idea what they were at all. Fortunately, her master was there.

”...thank you, Master,” Althea said, her voice shaky. Her eyes ended on the streak of silvery hair that appeared on his head.

Her free hand extended to touch it, feeling aether concentrated into the strands. She realized that it wasn’t that it turned white... but it turned to a different material altogether.

Husband..., she thought. Just what is going on?