[55 Days after The Migration]


    Altera.


    A new day had begun and the morning sun gently filtered through the curtains. Althea stirred in her cozy bed and, in her half-daze, she heard the soft and melodic giggling of babies that eventually pulled her from the depths of sleep.


    Slowly, she opened her eyes and stretched her arms to completely remove the slumber out her system.


    She slightly turned her head to the side, realizing her husband and the babies were on the floor cot, playing.


    Her husband was wearing a comfortable cotton shirt and pajamas, but his back was straight and he had a stern expression on his face. It was as if he was studying a battle plan while cross-legged on the floor.


    However, the difference was that even with a stoic face, the warmth in his eyes was overflowing.


    Near him were the two babies giggling and crawling around him, their tiny hands carrying them everywhere on the cot. They were super adorable and she wanted to pat those butt and poke their chubby cheeks just because.


    She shifted on the bed to get a better look, but Garan heard it instead. He turned and he immediately stood up when he saw her awake. With his masculine strides, he reached her a second later and sat next to her on the bed.


    "I''m sorry wife, did we wake you?" He asked, patting her head. She smiled and rubbed her face on his palm.


    "It''s fine. It''s just the right time to wake up," she said, "What were you doing?"


    Garan smiled in response, his arms finding their way behind her neck and legs, lifting her up without warning.


    She habitually wrapped her arms around his wide shoulders. They went to the cot and he settled her on his strong thighs as he sat.


    Seeing their mother near them, the babies immediately called to her with their baby language, crawling to approach. Their little butts were shaking as they passionately went towards her.


    "Mwaahhmwahhh…"


    "Googuumghu…"


    Althea giggled as she let go of her hold on her husband, albeit she was still comfortably sitting on him.


    She excitedly turned to Garan, "Husband! They''re crawling so quickly on their own now!"


    It was as if they forgot little Meatball actually floated, but that was a matter for the future—especially when the baby boy never did it again.


    It got to the point that they thought they both drank too much and imagined the whole thing.


    Anyway, at her words, Garan nodded with a smile. "When I woke up, I saw them in their crib, on all fours and staring at us," he said, "I decided to help them exercise."


    Althea''s lips pursed at the image and she watched as the children crawled to her. Slowly, and a bit unstable, but progress was made.


    They were only a few months old…


    To be honest, her heart squeezed a bit whenever she saw them behaving in ways too advanced for their age, but no one could answer her doubts.


    And, again, Little Meatball had actually floated (assuming it was true).


    But whatever it meant, they loved their children and they''d figure it out together.


    Garan watched his family warmly and the couple looked at their unstable son, who lost his footing er, no, arm…ing? He fell down cheek first on the soft cot, and Althea almost sat up to help him.


    Strong arms wrapped around her torso though, and her husband''s warm breath blew on her ears. "No, my wife, let him get up on his own."


    The couple watched the babies crawl to them without any assistance. At some point, Little Pepper had already reached her, her soft tiny hands patting her legs.


    Althea''s heart melted as she took the baby to her lap and sent multiple smooches on her chubby face.


    Little Meatball was also crawling towards them, but a lot less stable than his older sister.


    Garan pursed his lips. "Alphonse Witt, You ought to train your arms more…"


    Althea rolled her eyes and pinched her husband''s cheek. "He''s a few months old!"


    He looked at her dotingly—but it was that look he had when he thought she was being silly.


    "He''s the man of the house after me. He ought to learn how to protect you and his sister."


    Althea knew there was no talking him out of this. She could only thank the heavens little Meatball couldn''t walk yet, or else who knew what kind of training he''d be thrown to.


    Speaking of training, they hadn''t been able to go to the training hall yesterday.


    Garan rubbed his wife''s curvaceous waist when he noticed her in a daze. "What''s wrong, wife?"


    "I forgot because the fight yesterday was so tiring… but… the Training Hall could finally be upgraded!"


    She paused and looked at the baby boy struggling to climb her thigh, only to fall back down the cot again. The momentum made him roll like a ball.


    So cute.


    She giggled, taking the babies in her arms, and gently squeezing their noses. "After eating, of course."


    …


    After having breakfast with the children and depositing them next door, the couple went to the Training Hall (Lv1).


    To upgrade a building, for now, she had to access the hall herself. This was in contrast with normal system buildings which could now be done via the map.


    To appear inconspicuous, the husband and wife simply lined up with everybody else. They also politely refused the offer to cut the line.


    "Thank you, but we can wait," she said, smiling beautifully and mesmerizing the random man.


    Garan placed his hand on her hips to pull her to him for a half embrace, which cut the random man''s thoughts and he awkwardly turned back in front and waited in line.


    Althea gave her husband a small frown. Was it necessary to intimidate a poor passerby?


    All she got was a smooch on the cheeks making everyone around them blush.


    Another one in the line coughed, "Are you sure you don''t want to go ahead Ms. Althea? I''m sure you guys can use your time for more… productive things."


    She almost laughed but shook her head in the end. Although they normally would take up the offer, it would be too suspicious for the building to upgrade as soon as they entered it.


    "No thank you, my husband and I decided to go through everything by the book today."


    "Ah, ok!"


    "Very admirable," another said, earning a couple of nods.


    The line moved a bit and they stepped forward a couple of steps, fortunately, the upgrade trigger did appear.


    [Would you like to upgrade the Training Hall (Lv1) to Training Hall (Lv2)?]


    The price was, unsurprisingly, much more than the cost of building it. However, it was not just the usual three times. This seemed to be almost 5 times the cost of building it!


    But the Training Hall was far too important, and she really didn''t lack money—especially when the territory''s safety is on the line.


    [Yes.]


    And, like every other upgrade, there was a minuscule change in the air.


    Interestingly though, not everyone could sense this. So, when the building was upgraded, the people around were just shocked as all those inside suddenly appeared outside. What''s more, the building suddenly couldn''t be accessed.


    "What?" Someone in front of them yelled, followed by another.


    "What is going on?!"


    The people who were kicked out finally got out of their disorientation and were shocked to see the crowd. Sёar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "What…??"


    "I was about to beat that level 5 Stormdoer damnit!"


    "What in the—"


    "I thought I was going to dieee…"


    Anyway, it was all very confusing.


    They were unable to absorb more of what happened, and just got more confused when several people they were acquainted with grabbed them, asking what they saw inside.


    "????"


    Mao happened to be one of these people. He blinked and ran to the captain when he saw him.


    "Captain!" He exclaimed, sending his standard greeting. Then he looked around in a confused expression, unsure whether to ask his superior for what the heck happened.


    "Look back," was all the reticent captain said and he did as he was told.


    In front of their eyes the two-story building slowly increased by twice upwards. Slowly, brick by brick, the building started to change.


    Mao''s slitted eyes widened a millimeter more and gaped at the sight for a while, before turning his head back.


    "I… I see."


    From his reaction, the ones inside during the upgrade—except for being kicked out—were obviously unaffected by the changes outside.


    "Do you feel anything?" Althea asked and the man flinched, shaking his head to answer.


    Althea sighed in relief, while Garan nodded and looked at Mao. "Go back to the barracks and report this change."


    "Yes, sir!"


    After about half an hour, the ''construction'' stopped, revealing a new four-story building made of stone.


    At the same time, an announcement pinged in everyone''s heads.


    [The Territory Training Hall has been upgraded! All guards will be given priority use for a period of 3 days!


    [All permanent residents shall be given a discount of 50% of the usual rates for the first 10 hours of usage, 30% for temporary residents.]


    [Let''s increase the territory''s strength even more! Let''s work hard together!!]