The next day, Alex woke up early. For the first time, he had a good sleep.
Mani's house was decent when compared to all the dilapidated wooden houses seen inside the village. Although it was smaller in scale compared to the Mupan's house. It had private rooms for each member. This was a boon for Alex. It helped him move in and out of the interdimensional farm unnoticed.
He even thought of living inside the farm for a couple of days.
Due to how seasons change inside the farm. He thought that he might have better sleep if he could sleep in a warmer area. It would have been a good idea if not for the fact that it was winter inside the farm too. So, he chose to rest inside his room.
If possible, Alex wanted to make his own house and move out. It would be better for his future endeavours.
For the past couple of days, the only thought in his mind was survival. Alex didn't have much time to think or enjoy his situation. Now that he has breathing room to do what he wants. He began to notice some things that he glossed over.
The living condition of the stone head tribe was appalling.
The houses were small and dirty. The clothes were made out of leather and fur and had patches all over them. It could protect him from the cold. But it was the only thing that it could do.
He didn't how long it has been since he took a bath or when was the last time he washed his clothes.
Everything had a musty repulsive smell.
And most importantly, the village didn't have even one toilet.
You might not notice it in the modern world. But a place to shit in peace was a must to have in any place.
With that in mind. As soon as he woke up. Alex began his busy life.
He wants a new house, bathroom, shower, clothes, a heater or a fireplace and something to cook food with.
It was a simple goal at first, but it soon turned into a plan for a completer overhaul of the entire village.
Food, water, air, clothes and shelter were considered basic necessities. And everyone needed those. By only improving the overall environment could he live a better life.
'Baby steps towards a better future.' Alex thought.
—--
Alex harvested the matured crops on the farm. After selling the crops, he now has 3000 FP. It was a good amount because he missed many harvests.
Using the 3000 FP he bought 25 pieces of land to cultivate. Now in total, he had 40 units of land. 60 more to go before levelling up the farm.
The remaining FP was used to buy sweet potato seeds for 25 FP each. With that, he could plant 20 units of land and the remaining 20 units will be filled with tomato seeds.
Currently, the farm was in the winter season. So, he had to wait until tomorrow to plant the seeds.
To make use of his free time wisely, Alex exited the farm.
Today he wanted to explore the area around the village. After that comes procuring materials to create his new house.
Wasting no time, he walked towards the centre of the village. Occasionally some villagers would nod at him, but most of the time they ignored him completely.
Even though Meru was considered an adult. He didn't have much presence in the village.
"Meru, the chief is giving a lesson today. Come to the training ground." Suddenly an unknown person came towards Alex and said.
Realising the importance, Alex followed the person to the training ground.
The training ground was a large open area on the south side of the village. It was situated just outside the giant perimeter walls of the village near the south entrance.
Now, it was mostly covered by snow and only a few giant stones could be seen in the training ground.
A group of people was lining up in the training ground facing the cheif. Thee, Kanal, Poka and Charam were within this group. And Alex could barely hear what the chief was saying.
Walking closer, he began focusing on the lecture.
"Awakened people have a Mysterious energy flowing through them. They can control this mysterious energy to enhance their physique or exhibit magical phenomena. Like this." Chief said while coating his arms in silverish-grey-coloured energy.
He lifted his arms so that everyone can observe what he was doing.
"What I just did is called body enhancement. For this, I diverted the flow of energy into my arm muscles to strengthen them. Anyone who is awakened can do this. You just need to focus energy on one part of the body. However, the next technique is called full body enhancement."
After saying that, the chief began to extract the energy that flows through his blood vessels into his muscles. It slowly materialised throughout his body as a grey shimmer of energy.
It was truly a magical sight. The coat of energy was covering all parts of his body equally without any visible weak points.
"This is full body enhancement. You can try it if you want. But you will not able to do so until you have enough energy. Only trained warriors can exhibit full body enhancement. And finally, the third and most special power of our clan." Chief paused after saying that.
Lifting his hand up, he once again channelled the energy into his fist. But this time it was different. Instead of the silverish coat of energy forming around his hand, a darker shade of energy was revealed.
It finally solidified into dark grey colour, like a rock.
"This is our tribe's special skill, rock formation. It can either be used as a defensive skill or an offensive skill. And only true masters can exhibit this skill. This is the real blessing given to us by our spirit guardian. I used this skill to break a mammoth's skull. But there are limitations to this skill. I will give that explanation at a later time."
After showing the skills, Chief looked at the shining eyes of the youngsters. Although they went through the coming-of-age ceremony. Their excitement still showed that they were young kids.
"You have to work hard to attain this power. Only the can you walk with head held up high among the tribe's men." The chief added.
Thee who was watching from the audience lifted his arms suddenly.
"Can I ask a question?"
"Yes," The chief replied.
"You said that only trained warriors can use full body enhancement. So, Why is my body completely covered in energy?" Thee said showing off the silverish glow around his body.
'Sigh, overachievers and their ego inflation method.' Alex thought while looking at the smiling kid.
"Ha ha ha… That is why you are special. You are talented and have more than enough energy to manifest full-body-enhancement." The chief commented.
A smile bloomed on his face after hearing the praise.
"So, what about us? How can we become strong?" Poka interjected.
"What I have shown is the techniques to use the energy. There are two more ideas you have to be familiar with before understanding what it truly means to awaken. One is the ability to quickly recover the used energy. And the other is the way to increase the maximum energy your body can handle." Chief said seriously.
"In our daily life, we use energy periodically to do tasks that we cannot do otherwise. And by doing so, the energy in our body will deplete. To quickly recover the energy, there are two ways. By eating food or by meditating."
"By eating food, you supplement the energy by digestion and while meditating, you absorb the energy that surrounds you. And by doing it together, you can see the best effect."
"And to increase the total energy that your body can store. There is only one way. By training as much as you can. Our body is like a vessel, it has limits to how much energy it can store at any given moment. By training, we increase the limits."
"And the answer to Poka's question is simple. You can become strong by training. Never expect to get quick success like Thee. Only by training your muscles to be in tune with energy can you drive the energy to exhibit enhancement properties. He is just a lucky individual. So, train as hard as you can. Carry weights, roll the giant stones, run around and use the energy in tandem with your muscles. Make using energy as easy as breathing and increase your vessel. That's all I have to say for today."
"And remember to try your best."
After giving a long speech, the chief walked away slowly.
Alex, who heard this was thrilled to try it for himself.