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

This metal allowed her to transmit her abilities much farther than it usually could.

Speaking of which, she should’ve used this when they were exploring that mysterious hollow in the granite mountain before, but things happened too quickly (with a giant bird attacking and all) that she had not thought about it before.

What if it could also be used in other aethric mediums?

She was a toolmaker and an array master. In theory, she might be able to make use of the stone’s expansion capabilities on the aether letter, too, yes?

After a few more hours of theorizing in her head, it was time to put it to practice. There was a lot of necessary trial-and-error here.

Aether and this world’s powers were too mystifying, so strictly using empirical formulas like those in maths might not result in completely accurate data. One had to experiment, no matter how many calculations one could do.

She asked for a private space from the orcs, which ended up being one of the caverns. The ventilation was a bit lacking, especially since she was surrounded by the strong stench of orcs.

They indeed have body scent that needs time to get used to. Fortunately, Alterra was one who could make bombs from poop, so she wasn’t too queasy.

How convenient would it be if they at least had a radio? But alas, that was still something for the future.

It took her a full two days before she finally managed to do something with the aether letter. She had to use some other aether letters to experiment, fearing that she’d accidentally destroy the one connected to her husband.

Most of the aether letters she had in space were connected to others, all Alterrans, and she had to use a few of them while she tested things out.

She had wasted about two sets of aether letters, while the next three failures could be recoverable in theory. Anyway, aether letters were not too expensive in Alterra anymore, so she’d just buy a few more sets. She did, however, silently apologize to her brother because his aether letter was among those destroyed.

What was interesting—and fascinating—was that she found out quite a few other things about the metal itself. She had sent several samples to the Research Center before, so she reckoned they would have similar findings soon.

The new metal seemed like it could work even better with electricity! It was a metal, so it being a conductor was no surprise. However, one had to remember that it didn’t have many other functions than enhancing ’signal’.

This avenue opened up a number of possibilities, all of which would keep the Research Team busy for a long time.

How she found out about this was quite interesting.

At the time, she was integrating the two things (the metal and the aether letter) but unsurprisingly found them not syncing at all. This was not like how easily she used it when she used her Earth skills.

Back then, she literally just had to hold it in her hand and concentrate her powers as if she were going through the metal (though naturally this wasn’t entirely true; it was just that the sensation was similar to it).

But in the case of the aether letter and the metal, it was like trying to mix water and oil. Each effort consumed quite a bit of mental energy, too.

So...how to combine oil and water? It wasn’t impossible. All chefs had done it before.

Emulsification.

Well, to be more accurate, rather than truly mix them together, the process was able to create a temporarily stable mixture.

It was here that she had the inspiration to use electricity. She thought, what was the best way to wreak havoc in the make-up of something stubborn? Electrocute it!

She had a lot of solar-charged batteries in her space, so sourcing it out was not difficult for her at all.

The effect was much better than she even thought. She didn’t even have to use mana continuously for it to work.

All the effort was too worth it!

What was more worth it was figuring out that the metal could independently enhance ’signal’.

This meant that something might not need to be a magic tool to have a use.

In theory, when they figured out things, they could use it on their modern things like the radio and wouldn’t need a toolmaker to produce them. Just use the item directly as if it were a normal component.

For now, either letter would do well enough. She tried it two more times using different aether letters, and only when she finished the job did others breathe a sigh of relief.

Althea ignored them, her emerald eyes fixed at the upgraded aether letter, and she smiled.

Done!

...

Garan, at this time, was heaving deep breaths, his skin cracked all over and his body covered with blood. His eyes were whiter than usual, and there was an eerie but awe-inspiring air around him.

He was haggard and bloodied, leaving scores of high-level beast carcasses in his wake.

The most prominent dead body there was the carcass of a large avian beast, which was the same one that took Althea back then.

The battle between the two of them lasted nearly fifteen minutes, which was not short considering the avian had been weakened by something when he attacked, and it was likely his wife. Its terrain advantage helped it out too much, allowing it to avoid many of Garan’s otherwise deadly moves.

It was unfortunate he couldn’t interrogate it for information; otherwise he’d have kept it alive to get some information.

At present, Garan was clearly already at his physical limit, and he was doing his best to keep conscious, but with little success.

He was definitely suffering; each inch of his skin felt like it was burning. However, he didn’t show a single sign of being in pain. He was too preoccupied with worry for his wife.

When she was taken away, he did his best to follow. But he still lost it in the end.

Not even the strongest emotion could describe what he felt that time.

Garan then looked at the wall with dark eyes. It reminded him of the time when the Protection Period was still up. How helpless he had been back then. Did they have to go through the same thing again?

Of course not!

Back then, the protective fog was intangible. In contrast, the wall in front of him was something he could touch—and therefore, something he could ’defeat’.

He would never want to go through that again. He desperately barraged through whatever obstacle came his way, especially when he could feel her in intense pain.

He and his wife were connected. But in the end, he was not strong enough.

He had an inkling she was in pain, but she was alive. That was the only reason why he hadn’t gone insane yet.

If he completely lost his reason, then he might as well have given up on ever finding her. For the following hours, all he could do was try to find clues to her presence, and that was when he found the monster who took her away.

The battle was not easy. Landwalkers naturally had a great disadvantage against those that could fly, let alone against an intelligent monster.

After all that fighting, Garan’s vision was turning dark, and he found himself unable to move flexibly. His bloodied body stood ramrod straight amidst creepy, desolate settings, all while surrounded by beast carcasses.

But now that the monster was finally dead, he no longer had any energy left behind. If there was a positive in this intense battle, it was that the death energy was so destructive that after the monsters a kilometer away had been killed, no new monster would be lured in for a while.

However, Garan didn’t actually register this. His mind and heart were too anxious; his body was heavy, his heart more so.

It was here that his aether letter heated up and his lifeless eyes churned to life.

Garan took it out immediately. Considering the distance, it could only be Althea.

[Husband!]

His azure eyes finally lit up with vitality. Using much of his remaining strength, he sent out a reply. Sadly, it was not received.

When the message was sent out, the letters would light up before disappearing. The text remained, meaning it was not sent out at all.

His eyebrows furrowed until the letter heated up again.

[If you can’t reply, don’t fret. I am alright. Let’s meet in three days, okay?]

...

Garan wanted to see his wife as soon as possible, but he knew he was in no condition to do so.

She must also be hurt and recovering right now, and he needed to do the same, so three days seemed like a good duration to rest.

Garan finally gained clarity, and he looked around, searching for a good place to rest for three days. This area had dense monsters, so he couldn’t be careless.

He found a depression somewhere nearby, dragging his feet there to rest. It was a small indentation, barely a cave, with an opening that would fit him crouching down.

He added metallic railings at the mouth, making it look like it was a prison, but it was actually to protect himself. At the very least, his own element outside would allow him to detect anomalies even when he was unconscious.

As he sat down, his calloused fingers rubbed the aether letter again. He found comfort in just holding it in his hand.

He grasped the magic tool in his hand as he sat down, even knowing there would be no new message for a while. With the aether letter on hand, it was only then that Garan allowed himself to finally fall into slumber.

...

...

.

.

Unbeknownst to him, a few hundred or so meters above him, there were actually creatures watching his intense fight.

They all looked rather complicated, but many—especially the younger ones—looked to be in awe.

They were none other than Dwarves.

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