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

”Still...aren’t they too young to exhibit anything?” Cheman asked, looking concerned. He was particularly close to the babies and was interestingly pretty good with children too.

”We’ll see...” Zenno said, and together they entered past the vestibule to the rest of the family, who were hanging out together. There were even a few board games out.

It was very warm here, and it wasn’t just the temperature.

”Masters...what do you think?” Althea asked as they sat around the coffee table to have some tea or coffee.

The alchemists loved all the tea from Althea, especially when she made it herself. It seemed like her wood ability could enhance and bring about special flavors and make the most out of each combination. A sip managed to calm them and even make them smile.

They stared at the two children on Althea’s lap, now slobbering on cookies. They were extremely adorable, and no one would think they’d have such power hidden in their tiny bodies.

”I haven’t seen gravity or teleportation before,” Cheman mumbled.

Hoffen nodded. ”As he mentioned, in all my years, I haven’t heard of these powers before.”

”Likewise,” Zenno said. ”However...”

They all turned their heads to him, feeling that he might know something. ”I have heard of miraculous runes that can do the same abilities. I heard about it from some dwarves. Their clans had a few.”

”Runes?”

”They are like magic tools, but could work for an indefinite amount of time.”

”I have heard of runes before,” Hoffen said, sipping his lavender-chamomile tea. ”It’s a lost art.”

”The dwarves...” Zenno said. ”They might know something.”

They’re the race closest to the elves, Zenno thought, but he didn’t say it out loud yet. Involving elves in a casual discussion felt...blasphemous.

There was another theory he had, but...he needed to confirm if he could divulge it first.

Anyway, the conversation naturally geared towards the dwarves. Ansel looked at the others. ”Didn’t our people encounter dwarves before?”

”You did?”

Hoffen blinked, vaguely remembering some gossip among the pharmacists. ”I heard a story like that before,” he said. ”They let them go, did they not?”

Althea nodded. ”Yes, Otto and the rest didn’t risk it lest we made the dwarves hostile to us.”

The alchemists nodded at them, quite impressed at the foresight. Especially Zenno, who had a better idea of what the race was capable of and how most people wouldn’t miss their chance to take them.

”That is the wise decision. You wouldn’t want to get the ire of dwarves when you’re only a Town. Only cities would dare do that.”

Hoffen nodded. ”Their tools could apparently handle Town-level walls well, so despite their physical limitations, they could really attack and win.”

”Not to mention, they do not have formal territories, and even if they all attacked a Town, they would not receive penalties.”

If they partnered up with territory-less goblins, then they’d be even more troublesome.

Althea and the others took note of this. That said, she still handed the soft babies to each of them for a closer look.

The old men flinched, but they held on to the babies like they were treasures they could only awkwardly hold

The babies giggled at the odd movements, thinking the old men were playing with them, once again melting hearts.

”Can you check their states? They had been using their powers for days now, I’m worried it affected them.”

Shiela had already checked the babies, but she could only see the physical qualities of a person. In that respect, at least, the children were fortunately alright. However, in terms of aether, she could not do anything.

Althea had used her Eye to see and had sensed a bit of anomalies around the children. This was especially true whenever they were using their abilities. It was like a burst of aether came out of them.

She had observed normal elementalists when using their power, but their bursts or leaks were nothing compared to that of the small babies. The babies used more aether than adult elementalists, which made the proportions even more jarring.

At the same time, she did not know how to handle it. To be frank, she was only holding it on because panicking now, especially when they were physically healthy, would not achieve anything.

The alchemists looked at each other and nodded in agreement. Sheila and the rest cleared out the table.

They set aside the cups, added a cushion on the coffee table, and placed the babies there. For now, since they had cookies and toys with them, they were sitting relatively still, though they were so cute someone couldn’t help but whip up their phone and take pictures.

The three alchemists entered professional mode and studied the babies’ auras. Alchemists of their level naturally had the appraisal and assessment skills.

”Now...how do we make them use their powers?” Hoffen asked. ”It should be different whenever they are using their powers.” The old men naturally needed to observe the changes there as well.

At this, Eagle and Ansel took away their toys and their cookies, and the babies were immediately annoyed.

”ANKOOLL!!! ANKOOOLLLL!!!”

”ANKOOOOOLLLLL!! MINE!! MINEEE!!”

Their little hands stretched out, demanding that the mean uncles to give back their stuff.

It was so cute. At least they weren’t crying, right?

That said, Meatball immediately jumped off the table to capture Ansel. Someone was ready to catch him, of course, but he really ended up floating.

Similarly, Pepper also appeared near Eagle’s feet, and he almost stepped on her.

Eagle gasped and almost lost his balance, but he instinctively summoned a bit of air (which made the whole room windy) to balance himself. The girl had stood up by now and toddled to him, grabbing his pants with an adorable pout on her face.

She glared at Eagle and then looked at her stuffed toy. ”MINE!!”

Eagle’s lips twitched, not feeling scared at all. He even wondered when he could hold his own baby.

He kneeled down and handed the baby her doll, apologizing for being a mean uncle. This calmed the baby girl down, and she was taken back to the coffee table.

Meatball was also calmed down, cookie in his hand again, furtively carried by Ansel. ”Normalize your weight, Meatball,” he said, since the baby was still heavy.

The baby boy had no idea what he was talking about, nor how to control it to that degree, but Althea just had to take him to her arms, and the child would instinctively do so.

By this time, the old men had already seen the burst of energy Althea was worried about, as well as what their aura looked like right after.

The old men were both shocked and fascinated.

It turned out there were still so many things to discover in the world.