“I agree that those measures make sense. I also agree with the point about making it explicit who’s the boss. But I know my son well enough to understand that he probably doesn’t want to just tell people that that’s how things will be done.” Allison laughed, then winked at Howard. “Give me a few days to get him over the line.”

  Adam laughed and slapped Ben on the back. Ben just shook his head.

  Howard smiled faintly, tapped his pencil on the desk and continued, “The key long-term point is about building a shared mythology.”

  “A fantasy story?” Adam asked.

  “No, not necessarily,” Howard laughed, “even though our new life feels a bit like one. The mythology is about what the Protectorate stands for—where it came from, and where it’s going. It’ll be especially powerful if it’s combined with symbols or rituals. Celebrating the founding of the Protectorate could be a ritual. Or a ceremony when a new dungeon is added, or new citizens are welcomed. A symbol could be anything—for example, the Protectorate Pillar or a Dungeon Portal. Something that conveys what the Protectorate is. And then you can use it for communication, or the Protectors could wear it on their armor, or whatever. All of this is very powerful in making people identify with the community. Like a flag, a founding myth, or a national holiday.”

  “That is very cool! Let me work with Howard to think about how and what that could be,” Adam said, grinning excitedly.

  Ben left the meeting feeling grateful that they had Howard—because he was certain he would never have thought of these things himself. And without them, they’d likely be a lot worse off when the time came to welcome new people.

  ***

  The last week had been exactly what Ben needed, he reflected as he walked out of the gate with the rest of his team to begin their little excursion.

  While he had worked a lot—and without [Resilient Body] he would have been in constant pain—he’d still managed to decompress. Even the dungeon runs they’d made, skipping the mine’s second level so far, had felt relaxed.

  Training with Barry and the rest of the Protectors had helped even more. He was no martial?arts master—it would take years to get there—but he no longer felt like he was making everything up on the fly. He finally had some grounding in a system that had substance. He looked forward to the coming week before he had to return to Simonston to talk with Jane and Rose and try to convince them to join the Protectorate.

  “So what’s the plan, Mom?” he asked, giving Allison a quick side hug.

  “We need to be back before sunset, so we won’t go too deep into the forest. Let’s head about five kilometers west, then walk in a circle.”

  “What are we expecting to find?” Anne asked.

  “Ben suggested setting up an early?warning system so we’re not just waiting for monsters to hit our walls. We don’t have the manpower for permanent patrols yet, but we can at least see whether the environment has changed,” Allison replied.

  “So if all goes well, this is nothing more than a pleasant summer hike—with the added benefit of Tracy and Barry not torturing us,” Ben said with a wink.

  Starting west meant a gentle downhill walk toward Simonston. They knew this terrain best thanks to their recent trip to the city and to their newest dungeon entrance.

  For the next few hours they didn’t meet any Energy?born creatures, or at least none that came close. Near midday they reached the easternmost point of their loop, now at a noticeably higher elevation.

  So far they hadn’t found much, but the higher they climbed the more the forest diverged from what they remembered. Three weeks earlier, on the day the Energy hit Earth, they’d walked these woods for a barbecue.

  The first difference was the amount of new growth—it was far taller than it had any right to be.

  The second change was even more striking: both some of the fresh plants and some older trees had changed.

  Ben stepped off the path Michael was leading and knelt beneath a large oak. A cluster of low plants there had wide leaves and exactly three blossoms each. The blooms looked like snowdrops, only deep, rich red.

  Red Drops. Energy?infused plant. Tier 1. Uncommon crafting ingredient.

  “Look at that. Luz will be very interested in those,” Ben said.

  “Indeed. Let’s take two or three with us,” Allison agreed.

  Not long after, Michael veered from the trail again and pointed at a tree at least 25 meters tall. Dark, smooth bark was laced with silver lines that looked like veins.

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

  Moonamber Resin Oak. Energy?infused plant. Tier 1. Uncommon crafting ingredient.

  Jamal rapped the trunk, pressed his palm to it, then rubbed his fingers together and sniffed.

  “Looks like we might still be in the lumberjack business, boss,” he said with a grin. “Mmh. Not sure what this is, but it’s different from any tree I’ve seen. Looks like the Moonamber Resin, whatever that is, is oozing out in minuscule amounts from the silver veins.”

  “This is very cool. So maybe we are in a different kind of lumberjack business. For this tree, it might be more about harvesting the resin, like rubber. Too bad we don’t have the tools for that right now,” Ben said.

  Michael looked at him, then at the tree. He took out his knife, carved a small piece from one silver vein, and slipped it into his bag.

  Allison snorted, slapped Ben on the shoulder, and motioned for them to move on.

  On the way back, they found two more small plants with crafting ingredients—one common, one uncommon.

  As they neared the settlement, Anne summarized what most of them had probably been thinking. “The forest has a lot to offer—and I can only imagine what else there is in the higher reaches—but while the wolves left us alone, I doubt they’d do the same with smaller or weaker groups. If we want to harvest more, we’ll need proper protection.”

  “I agree. I’ll put it on the list for the Protectors. But again—something for when we have more manpower,” Allison said.

  ***

  The next morning Barry gathered them on the training field.

  “Yesterday we touched on Exploit – remember, opportunities are not given, they are created. You can run drills with a partner anytime to build your reflexes.

  Today we start with Enter. What I’m going to show you is heavily influenced by taekwondo—and we’ll start without weapons—but it translates well into shield movement, too.

  “At the heart of it is this: to strike, you must first arrive—even if not invited.

  “First exercise: low-line attacks—kicks that open a path. Let me demonstrate with Tracy…”

  Barry motioned for her to attack, and then executed a kick in slow motion.

  Two hours later Barry announced the second exercise of the day, “Next up, a simple exercise: evade,” he showed the side-step, “step through, then strike.”

  Anne was Ben’s partner. She made everything look easy but offered constant feedback, accelerating his progress.

  “How different is this from Krav Maga?” he asked between drills.

  Anne smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “Some of the movements are of course familiar, but the basic premise is very different. Krav Maga is about survival first and foremost. You, individually, against an opponent who might have a weapon.

  “You try to take out your opponent as quickly as possible in whichever way is possible or create openings to flee.

  “Barry is teaching a more Eastern inspired approach that is more about Energy conservation, integrates weapon usage, and is leveraging techniques. Most importantly, it incorporates team alignment, while Krav Maga is mostly for individual fighting only. So it is quite different, but I enjoy it a lot. Always good to get different perspectives.”

  “And what made you start with martial arts in the first place? You must have been quite young when starting, right?”

  She laughed, “I followed my big brother, he was very much into all things fighting and survival. Where we differed was that I stuck with Krav Maga, while he sampled many different styles.”

  ***

  Ben and Adam sat together for dinner. Adam was in high spirits, punctuating every word with his fork.

  “You know we hit the jackpot having a [Teacher] and an [Instructor]! Most people in the morning drills just gained [Agile Body], after less than two weeks of training. Even me! And I treated gyms like the plague in the past. Of course, we don’t know how things look elsewhere but I have to believe that the combination of the Protectorate plus these excellent teachers has made us develop much faster than elsewhere.”

  Ben grinned. “We’ll make a martial artist of you yet. By the way, coordinate with Mom on buying more spears and bows for the militia—we should have the coin.”

  After Adam left, Ben reviewed his own gains since the intense training began.

  [Strong Body] – Enhances efficient exertion of physical strength. Common

  [Agile Body] – Enables smoother movement and improved dodging ability. Common

  [Self?Defense] – First steps toward martial?arts mastery. Common

  Three perks—even if common—were huge. And he felt it. His movements were lighter, Barry’s pointers landed faster, and he could tap his strength more easily than the day Barry had made him lift the tree.

  ***

  “It’s been a while since I asked you to think about the three questions. Have you had any success with them? Anything you’d like to discuss?”

  Ben and Barry were back at the training field, which had suffered greatly from the intense exercise by the Protectors and the settlement militia.

  Ben slowly nodded. “I think I have. And to be honest, it made me slightly embarrassed about how I fought in the beginning. Lunging to hit enemies. Using the flat side of the axe…” He shook his head.

  “I think—or rather feel—that the axe is about aggression. It’s about ‘getting in there.’ Only that way is it possible to unleash the full force of the weapon. It’s not a sword that allows a balance between offense and defense. It’s not about keeping things away from you. Instead, you need to get close. You need a steady footing to fully unleash your strength.”

  Barry grinned. “I think you should trust your feeling. Think blacksmith, not dancer. That’s not to say you don’t need to be nimble—you don’t want to tank every attack with your body—but it’s a different mindset. All techniques are important, but for you and your fighting style, ‘Stand’ and ‘Enter’ are crucial. And of course ‘Flow,’ which we’ll train with the group later today.

  “That sounds like quite a bit of progress. Anything else?”

  Ben smiled slightly at his teacher’s words. It felt good that the separate elements were slowly coming together.

  “Yes. I’ve also spent a lot of time thinking about the ‘Why.’ It kept me awake during all those night shifts on watch.” He laughed.

  “The first breakthrough came when I realized that safety for this community—our family—as well as this place, our home, was the why. A combination of people and place. Even if things have to change, this is worth defending.

  “The forest around us helped me understand that. But then it helped me understand even more. The trees aren’t just surviving—they’re reaching for the sunlight. Growing, season by season, year by year.

  “So enabling the growth of our people, the growth of this place, in safety... that’s my ‘Why.’”