It was obvious that, for the talent [Eternal Power] to fully display its potential, Alex needed to gather more troops within his territory.
"Looks like I'll have to fully develop as a territorial lord later on," Alex thought.
At that moment, he noticed that a countdown had appeared above his head.
[Time until nightfall: 4 hours 32 minutes…]
[Note: during the newbie protection period, there will be no monster attacks on the camp. Remaining protection time: 5 days 17 hours…]
"Only four hours left until nightfall!"
Alex's scalp tightened instantly.
He knew very well that in this world of extreme cold, the temperature at night would drop brutally.
His gaze turned to the campfire in front of him.
[Campfire: Level 1]
[Effect: increases the temperature in a 10-meter radius by 5 to 20°C]
[Consumption: 1 wood every 15 minutes]
[Upgrade materials: stone ×5]
The temperature around the campfire had already dropped to –32°C, and at night it would fall more than twenty degrees further.
It was obvious that a level 1 campfire would not be enough to survive the night.
Alex then looked at a small collapsed hut to the side.
[Lord's Cabin (damaged): can be repaired]
[Required materials: stone ×10, wood ×20]
Alex's eyes lit up.
"This is it!"
If he managed to repair it, he could unlock the territory interface and also take shelter inside at night to avoid the deadly cold.
However, the repair required stone and wood.
Alex looked around. Near the campfire, there were several white stones and some already cut logs.
[Stone (white): basic material]
[Wood (white): basic material]
Just as he was about to pick up the wood, he heard Laura's soft voice beside him:
"Alex… the system asked me to choose a profession. Which one should I pick?"
It was obvious that she had already processed the system's information and accepted the reality of this new world.
Alex nodded inwardly. Her ability to adapt was really fast.
"Laura, choose Boreal Knight."
Alex had his reasons.
That class, in the later stages, gained multiple extremely powerful temporary buff skills.
And thanks to his [Eternal Power], those temporary buffs could become permanent.
Just imagining himself commanding an army with stacked permanent buffs made the resulting strength terrifying.
That said… Laura didn't have the bearing or the aura of a knight.
And even less today, when she was wearing white stockings.
Alex couldn't help but imagine her in armor, white stockings, and a sword…
"Ahem…" He shook his head. "Better focus."
"Alright, I'll choose Boreal Knight," Laura replied without hesitation.
In this unknown world, Alex was the only person she could trust.
Alex nodded, and then he saw a small wooden chest next to the campfire.
[Territory Chest: Level 1]
[Capacity: 40 slots]
[Note: contains initial resources and tools. Open it as soon as possible.]
When he opened it, numerous items appeared.
[You obtain: bread ×20]
[Iron pot (white) ×1]
[Stone axe (white) ×4]
[Stone hammer (white) ×4]
[Wooden staff (white) ×1]
[Round wooden shield (white) ×1]
The supplies were clearly meant for four people.
The system hadn't reduced the resources even though there were only two of them.
Alex nodded in satisfaction.
With the stone hammers, they could start repairing the Lord's Cabin.
That was the key to surviving the first night.
Without wasting time, he began to collect nearby stones and wood, carrying them back one by one.
System notifications kept popping up.
[Stone +1]
[Stone +1]
[Wood +2]
The stones were quite heavy.
Before long, Alex was already sweating.
The body of a modern man had its limits.
After almost twenty minutes of effort, he finally gathered all the required materials.
He stood in front of the hut.
[Do you want to repair the Lord's Cabin (damaged)? Time required: 17 minutes]
"Yes."
Alex began to hammer away following the structure indicated by the system.
Clang, clang!
There was no alternative: without repairing the cabin, he couldn't unlock other buildings.
And before recruiting Polar Men, he had to do everything himself.
While he was working, Laura crouched nearby.
The cold made her hug herself, and it openly outlined the curves of her body.
"Alex… is there anything I can help with?" she asked curiously.
Alex looked at the campfire and then at the scattered materials.
"Collect stone and wood around here and upgrade the campfire as soon as possible."
Laura didn't hesitate.
She stood up and walked out of the fire's range.
Not long after, she came back clumsily carrying a stone.
It was obvious the weight was hard on her.
Her arms were reddened by the cold, but she clenched her teeth and kept working.
[Stone +1]
Her heels were in the way, so she took them off and walked barefoot on the snow.
Her face was pale from the cold.
Alex didn't stop her.
In this world, everyone had to work hard to survive.
"Ah…"
When she set the stone down, her figure was turned away from Alex, showing curves that made his blood stir.
Alex immediately looked away and focused on his work.
One repaired the cabin; the other upgraded the campfire.
Soon, a notification appeared.
[The campfire has been upgraded to Level 2]
[Campfire: Level 2]
[Effect: increases the temperature in a 20-meter radius by 10 to 20°C]
[Consumption: 1 wood every 13 minutes]
[Materials for next level: stone ×10]
The range of warmth increased noticeably.
Even Alex felt warmer, and his efficiency improved.
A few minutes later, another notification appeared.
[Repair completed: Lord's Cabin]
[Territory interface unlocked]
Alex smiled.
"Perfect!"
The next step was to build the Polar Men's Cabin and officially begin his path as a lord.
Then another message appeared.
[For being the first survivor to build a Lord's Cabin, you obtain: Skill Book – Ice Therapy]
[Ice Therapy (white): consumes mental energy to heal the target, restoring 0.8 HP per second for 3 seconds]
Paf!
A yellowed book fell onto the snow.
"Not bad at all!"
Although there wouldn't be frequent battles during the initial protection period, this skill gave him a lot of peace of mind.
[Do you want to learn Ice Therapy?]
"Yes."
After learning it, multiple panels appeared:
[Territory] [Buildings] [Inventory] [Crafting] [Channel] [Profile] [Territory Forces]
Alex opened Inventory first: 20 slots, empty.
Then he opened Buildings.
Multiple level 1 buildings appeared:
Simple furnace, simple stove, smeltery, sawmill, blacksmith, Polar Men's Cabin, etc.
He ignored the rest and opened the cabin's information.
[Polar Men's Cabin – Level 1]
[Allows you to recruit Polar Men in exchange for food]
[Capacity: 4 people]
[Materials: stone ×10, wood ×30]
[Time: 45 minutes (up to 2 people can speed up the construction)]
"Forty-five minutes… too slow for one person."
He looked at Laura.
"Come, help me."
…
Laura was exhausted.
Her dress was soaked with sweat, outlining the silhouette of her underwear.
When she heard him, she stopped what she was doing and came over.
"What do you need me to do?"
"Help me build this. It'll be faster with both of us."
Though a bit confused, she nodded.
Soon, the two of them started building together.
Clang! Clang!
Half an hour later…
[Construction completed: Polar Men's Cabin]
[Territory population +4]
[You can now recruit Polar Men using food]
[Warning: if you do not feed them, they will leave the territory]
In front of them appeared a small tent-like cabin.
Another notification appeared.
[Reward for being first on the server: bread ×50]
Alex's eyes shone.
"Fifty breads!"
Thanks to his prior experience, he had managed to get ahead of everyone else.
"Each Polar Man costs five breads…
Now I can recruit all four."
[Consume food ×20 to recruit Polar Men ×4?]
"Yes."
The cabin trembled.
The door opened.
From inside came out four small humanoids, less than one and a half meters tall, dressed in thick winter clothes.
The Polar Men.
They bowed respectfully.
"Honorable lord, we are at your service!"
Laura, completely stunned, opened her eyes and mouth wide.
"A-A-A-Alex… th-they came out!"
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