Meatball could control his weight and Pepper seemed to have the ability to teleport. Thinking of those, the babies eating soft foods a little earlier seemed to be the least of their concerns.
These were unique and dangerous powers and when they told the hired aborigines—who were under oath—they were all shocked, all unaware of what was happening.
Not only were the powers unheard of, but they were being exhibited by babies!
Generally speaking, powers were only exhibited after Level 10. Even if a rich family trained their kids and let them get last kills to get them to level up early, their bodies usually weren't strong enough to support the level and they fell ill even before they reached level 9.
It was the primary reason why the bulk of the training kids get—at least those that give experience—was after 12, which was after the aborigine pubescence age. For Terran children, if the requirements were the same, then the age would be 13 to 14.
The aborigines' surprise worried the couple more than anything. The mysteries surrounding their children felt like a sword over their heads sometimes.
However, they agreed not to overthink when no one knew about it. They just decided to aim for strength so they could handle whatever it could mean.
For Garan, this mostly meant strength, while for Althea it was to make Alterra unbeatable—to be the unshakeable backer for her children.
She rested a bit and ate Harold's mana cookies to regain her mana, deciding to explore the outside of the territory. Of course, her husband was with her and she didn't go far from the gate either.
She hadn't studied the plants outside for weeks, as she had plenty to study inside. Not to mention, she had to use a lot of energy to figure out how to make those seeds bloom, so she had ignored the existing plants for a while.
She wanted to see the difference now that she had awakened her element.
The couple settled at a relatively isolated area at some distance from the wall. It was a small clearing lined with a variety of plants. They set up picnic blankets where both of them sat down.
Althea closed her eyes and concentrated, using her abilities to check on the surrounding vegetation.
For the most part, it was what she expected. Except… she couldn't help but notice a slight difference in the amount of wood energy that surrounded the plants.
After all this time, she had studied the plants in her gardens, even those outside the system farms but within the territory walls. She still had some impression of their 'health' compared to those outside.
Was it her imagination… or was the wood energy less outside the walls?
Her eyebrows furrowed. She recalled the reports that refresh rates of plants seemed to have slowed down a little compared to before—particularly to the plants outside.
Any unsual observations were reported and never underestimated. Their initial hypothesis was that there was just some sort of climate aberration, which—after much observation from the meteorology team—wasn't enough.
However, the refresh rate was indeed slowing. Before, a typical Gouji tree outside would average about 44-50 fruits every day. Now it went down to about 43-48. There was also a slight lag between the blooming of the plants and the flowers too.
Was there a correlation if some kind?
Her population was steadily growing. She feared this might also be happening inside, but it was so subtle no one noticed. They also never lacked food due to the farms so they hadn't really felt much changes within the walls.
If it was really as they feared, then she would eventually have to lower the free resource harvesting for residents and increase the prices of harvest.
She told Garan she'd take a while and not to stop her until she was done, knowing this would need her full concentration. Garan nodded. Although he looked worried, he trusted his wife fully and didn't push for answers at this time.
For the next few hours, she settled there, observing the wood elements around.
Wood energy, like any other, underwent the rule of conservation of energy. If it wasn't floating around, then it was integral to the plant and its functions. That was to say, nothing should just disappear in the real sense.
She focused on the specs around her, using much of her mana to keep track.
She observed the surrounding plants and their energies, and any changes that she had to note.
Then, after a few hours, a change happened. A speck was gone! It was only a spec, but she couldn't trace it anyway. It didn't go in a plant or wasn't absorbed by the soil.
After another hour, there was another one. If this was a constant event, then the total disappearing specs weren't small.
She thought hard as various hypotheses formed in her brain. Back inside, the situation was much better, especially so on farms. The higher the level of the farm, the denser the energy, and the faster the regeneration rate.
Based on this, it was safe to assume that the density of the wood energy was connected to the regeneration rate.
This meant that the disappearing energy particles were really a cause for concern!
However, she decided not to give herself a heart attack and decided to study the situation for a bit longer.
She stayed for a few more hours and witnessed a few more disappearances, and her heart dropped every time.
This confirmed it. The refresh rates of the plants—at least outside of the territory—had been slowing down!
What could this mean for them?
And was it only in Alterra? In this area? Or was it happening everywhere else as well? Was it something that happened to the whole continent? Was it seasonal? Permanent?
"Wife? What's wrong?" Garan asked, patient even after hours of waiting. His eyebrows were furrowed as he worried for his wife and he patted her cheek.
Althea looked at him with a very serious expression. "I have bad news."