Massive Strength Boost

An entirely new world seemed to be painted in Minos's mind, but rather than a world of color, it was one of smell.

Almost unconsciously, a smell map formed in his mind, a world where things were identified by their scent rather than their form and color.

Smell was only one aspect of his new abilities however, and his sense of taste had similarly also evolved.

Breathing in didn't only overwhelm his nose, but also his tongue. The usually tasteless air suddenly had all sorts of flavors, each one paired with a unique smell to go with it.

Combined with his smell map, an even more developed map formed, one where each smell had a flavor, and each flavor a smell.

The map became even more intricate and powerful under this pairing, and Minos could 'feel' the entire world despite having his eyes completely shut.

This experience was incredibly odd for someone who was used to mainly experiencing the world through vision and sound, but Minos was incredibly adaptive, and quickly got used to this new way of seeing the world.

Shutting his eyes and plugging his ears, Minos sat cross-legged on the sand as took further steps to understand and master this world.

By using the strength of the scent, Minos could roughly estimate how far the object was from him. Of course some smells were stronger than others, so Minos began forming a list of scents and their strength.

By knowing the natural strength of each scent and which direction it came from, Minos could do some simple calculations to come up with a solid estimate as to where the object was.

He further strengthened this ability by combining it with his newly evolved sense of taste. By experiencing an object's smell and flavor, the location of the object became even more clear in his mind.

Suddenly Minos noticed the scent next to him, which he knew as Tinka's suddenly shifted slightly.

Unplugging his ears and opening his eyes, he looked up to the side, seeing Tinka looking down at him curiously, wondering what he was doing.

"What are you doing sitting down there?" She asked.

"That fish heart was special, it helped me breakthrough." Minos said honestly with a laugh.

"Wow, really! Congrats!" Tinka said joyfully, feeling happy knowing Minos was even stronger now.

Minos smiled as he looked at Tinka's joyful face. With the 1600 hundred pounds of strength given by the Seventh Life Lock, his strength propelled from about 3000 pounds to 4600 pounds.

However that didn't include his own natural strength, which had gone up considerably after his growth spurt and the year spent hammering with Okrum.

With that number as well, his true strength was about 5000 pounds, officially making his strength two and a half tons.

At the same time Minos finished appreciating his new strength, the crowd also exited their food induced daydreaming.

With the meal eaten and everyone more than satisfied, it was time for the final part of the marriage ceremony to begin.

"Since everyone has eaten the ceremonial fish, it's time to seal the marriage!" Ronkus said loudly, causing the entire crowd to cheer.

"Why are they so excited?" Minos couldn't help but ask Tinka at his side.

"The marriage seal is the best part of the marriage, so of course they're excited!" Tinka said with a giggle.

Minos was still confused and wanted to ask more, but before he could, Ronkus clapped his hands loudly, causing the tribe members to form a circle around Minos and Tinka.

The tribe members held hands as they began circling Minos and Tinka with a strange dance, chanting a similar yet different hymn as they did before.

Tinka also took hold of Minos's hands, leading him in a dance. His steps were awkward at first not knowing the proper movements, but as Tinka led him through it, he became more and more graceful.

The loud rhythmic hymns of the tribe members was like music created for this dance in particular, each sound matching Minos and Tinka's movements.

Ronkus also pulled out a large drum, banging it to the same beat as the hymn. Beside him, Meninka was blowing into a wooden flute, adding another layer to the sound.

The voices, the drums, and the flute, all combined perfectly into the most beautiful music Minos had ever heard.

Minos couldn't help but get lost in the dance with Tinka, his dancing becoming more natural with each passing moment.

The two looked each other in the eyes as they moved around, both of them smiling. Despite wanting the moment to last forever, everything had to come to an end, and just as the tribe's hymn ended, so did the dance.

Minos looked down into Tinka's eyes with a smile on his face, causing her to let out a giggle.

"Why didn't you teach me this dance before? If I wasn't a genius, I would have made a fool of myself." Minos asked with a laugh.

"But I already knew you were a genius." Tinka responded.

Minos couldn't help but laugh even more at Tinka's response, leaning down, he whispered something into her ear, causing her face to blush and lightly slap him on his chest.

Ronkus walked up to the two and cleared his throat heavily, causing the two of them to stop playing around.

"With that, the marriage is sealed! Everyone welcome the newlyweds!" Ronkus said with a large smile on his face, Meninka also looked extremely happy standing behind him.

"Congrats!" Someone shouted first, opening the floodgates to the cheers.

The tribe soon gathered around Tinka and Minos, each of them giving a personal congratulations before handing over their gifts.

Minos and Tinka spent the next few hours chatting with and thanking everyone. It was only once the sun began setting, did the crowd finally leave the two alone, much to their relief.

"Well, normally the newlyweds would move out so they could do what they needed to do." Ronkus said, seemingly insinuating something.

"But there aren't any spare homes, and I doubt Minos has the time to make one, so I guess you two will be staying with us for the time being."

"Wait, I think there actually is an empty space." Meninka suddenly said.

"Is there?" Ronkus asked curiously.

"Yes, follow me." Meninka said, leading the three through the tribe until they eventually came across a small shed near the edge of the tribe.

The shed was in poor condition, clearly having not been touched for years. Meninka slowly opened the door, revealing the dusty cobweb infested inside.

"This is what you were talking about." Ronkus couldn't help but ask as he looked inside the dirty cabin.

"Well, it wasn't this bad in my memory." Meninka said awkwardly.

"It's okay, me and Minos can clean it up!" Tinka said with excitement, finally feeling like she was an adult.

"Are you sure?" Ronkus couldn't help but ask, feeling like it was better to just stay with them.

"Yeah, besides we're married now, we need our own place." Tinka answered.

"Alright, well it's up to you two, but it's late right now, so how about you work on it in the morning?" Ronkus suggested.

"Let's do that." Minos said, agreeing.

…

The next morning, Tinka woke Minos up early, excited at their renovation project. Despite not having the same enthusiasm as Tinka, he was happy when she was, so he didn't argue and followed her out.

After eating a quick breakfast with the family, and greeting the tribe members along the way, Minos and Tinka arrived at the dusty cabin.

"So, what should we start with?" Tinka asked, as she inspected the cabin some more.

"How about you clean the inside, meanwhile I'll replace the rotten wood." Minos said.

"Alright, let's do it that way then!" Tinka said with excitement.

With the two having their roles, they quickly got to work. Walking between the workshop and the cabin, Minos constantly replaced pieces of the wood.

He also sanded and lacquered the wood, giving the entire cabin a fresh look, as if it had been made recently.

With Minos having broken through recently, his tremendous strength allowed him to work with the efficiency of a dozen men, if not more.

The job that would have taken a normal man an entire day to finish only took Minos an hour or so, and by the time he was done, Tinka was still tidying the inside.

"I'm done, need anything else?" Minos said, as he walked inside the cabin and greeted Tinka.

"Finished already? How about you make a window then, this place needs some fresh air." Tinka said.

Since Minos had nothing else to do, he naturally agreed. Just as Minos finished the window, Tinka also finished cleaning the insides.

Standing inside the house, the two looked around, appreciating their work. The place had been completely renewed, looking nothing like it did yesterday.