Barry looked at him for a moment in silence. Then he nodded decisively. “I have nothing to add. This is your path, and every single person here today will support you with everything we have.

  “You should share this with Howard—for his cultural exercise or whatever he’s doing. I’m sure he’d be delighted to know.”

  Ben nodded slowly. “I have to think about it. It feels a bit pretentious when said out loud, doesn’t it?” he added, slightly insecure.

  Barry just smiled. “It’s up to you. But I find it rather inspiring—and very much in line with the values we’ve adopted.”

  “Hey Luz, thanks for the food. It somehow tasted even better than usual today.”

  “Thanks, Ben. The supply of fresh food is still minuscule, but a couple of fresh tomatoes in the sauce already made a difference. From what I understand, it’ll still take a while until we have a significant amount of fresh veggies—but it’s great for morale to know that it’s in reach.”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty crazy what our local biologists are building.

  “By the way, have you had a chance to look into the stuff we brought back from our little expedition?”

  “Yes and no. I can definitely tell that all of these things will be helpful, but I’m getting to the end of what I can do with just my perk. Eventually, I’ll need some books—or other ways to learn more about alchemy. Otherwise, my progress will stall.”

  Ben frowned. “I understand. Thanks for the feedback. Getting a library is definitely up on my priority list.”

  “Ok, today we touch upon the last technique: Flow. You could say that it’s not really a technique on its own, just a combination of everything else. And you wouldn’t be entirely wrong. But this is more than just a sequence of movements—this is about achieving a holistic understanding of what it is we’re trying to do here.

  “One of my teachers said, ‘When the mind is peaceful, and the body speaks, you begin to flow.’”

  With that, Barry initiated a beautiful sequence of moves, where there was no pause, no hesitation—just one smooth… flow.

  “This is what we call a kata—a specific sequence of movements. There can be as many as there are martial artists, and it certainly makes sense to differentiate by weapon. In the end, you’ll need to find something that resonates with you. But until then, I ask you to follow this one—with the most basic moves we’ve learned. You flow from Stand, to Defend, to Exploit and Enter, and finally to Strike. Important: afterwards you return right back to the beginning.

  “I’ll go slow. Just follow my example.”

  It took a few attempts, but Ben was surprised how quickly he found the rhythm—the flow. And once he got it, it was a trance-like feeling he didn’t want to end.

  Finally, it was Barry who interrupted him. “Very well done, Ben. Now adapt this and use your basic axe forms.”

  It took a bit longer, but Ben felt like his [Axe Handling] perk helped. Eventually he achieved a similar state, flowing through the motions of relentless defense and attack. It felt like a breakthrough.

  At the end of the session, Ben raised his arm and called for everyone to come together. “I just wanted to briefly take the opportunity to thank Tracy and Barry. The last couple of weeks were magical. I know many of us have gained new perks, but maybe even more importantly, we’ve developed new skills and gained new confidence. I realize this is only the beginning—but still, maybe a good moment to say thank you!”

  The others clapped enthusiastically, and many shook Tracy’s and Barry’s hands to thank them as well.

  When everyone had left and it was just Ben with the two teachers, he looked them both in the eyes and thanked them again. “That was heartfelt. If we can keep this going—and find ways to integrate more people once we grow—this is a phenomenal start for the Protectorate Academy.”

  Ben was having breakfast, but he was either very early or very late, because there was hardly anyone else in the mess hall. Even Adam—who’d agreed to meet him so they could start their trek to the city—was absent.

  He shrugged; a few minutes wouldn’t make a huge difference. To pass the time, he decided to head outside to the System Store. Most of the goods on offer were basic, but the catalogue was impressively broad nonetheless.

  When he stepped out onto the plaza, he stopped short. The entire Protectorate was assembled, and as he tried to process the sight, even Luz slipped past him to stand beside her fellow citizens.

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  In the front row stood the Protectors, clad in leather armor; behind them, forming a semicircle, stood the others in matching black T?shirts, even the twins.

  Every person wore an emblem over their heart. On a solid black circle sat a dark?blue mountain, and in the foreground a white obelisk, topped by a flat golden pyramid—the Protectorate Pillar.

  Allison, Adam, and Howard stepped forward, smiling.

  “Surprise!” Adam yelled, and everyone clapped.

  “We hope you like it, son. I thought it was a fantastic idea, anyway,” Allison said with a laugh.

  Ben waved Adam closer to study the emblem. It was hand?stitched and looked a little rough, yet to Ben it was perfect.

  He raised his voice so everyone could hear. “What a wonderful surprise! I can’t think of a better symbol for the Protectorate of the Blue Mountain Forest.”

  “In that case…” Howard waved Sarah forward. She grinned even more broadly than the others and carried something in her hand.

  “It was her design,” the proud father said. “We checked with everyone, then we all stitched them overnight.”

  “May I?” Sarah asked, holding an emblem near his chest.

  “Of course—go ahead,” Ben said at once.

  Sarah pressed the emblem to his armor, but instead of being the size of an orange like the others, this one was the size of a watermelon and sat squarely in the center of his chest.

  “We thought we’d make yours a bit bigger—for our [Knight Protector].”

  Ben would have preferred a smaller version like everyone else’s, but he didn’t want to spoil the mood. He patted his chest and smiled. “Thank you! Nothing makes me happier than seeing all of us wear this proudly!”

  Once people drifted away, Julia approached. They hadn’t spoken much in the last few days, and a trace of tension still lingered, but she gave him a hug and wished him a safe journey to the city.

  As Ben and Adam walked toward the gate, Ben whispered, “The emblem is great—I love it. But with one that big on my chest, people will think I’m compensating, you know…”

  Adam laughed so hard he had to stop walking, and Ben winked at him.

  Jamal and Michael stood at the gate when they arrived. “Hi there—are you on watch right now?” Ben asked.

  “No, boss. We’re just ready to head out to town,” Jamal replied.

  “Oh? I thought Adam and I were going alone.”

  “No, boss—that was never agreed.” Jamal looked at him patiently. Michael didn’t even seem to follow the discussion; he was scanning the forest beyond the gate.

  “So if I ask you to stay, you’ll just ignore me?”

  “Yes, boss,” Jamal said with a small smile.

  “I don’t even know what gave you that harebrained idea in the first place!” Allison called, walking up to them. She was clearly not dressed to leave the settlement. “Take the boys with you. My first new policy is that no Protector goes outside alone. The four of you can have a fun little trip—just try not to get into too much trouble.”

  She hugged all four men and walked away.

  Ben looked at Adam, then at Michael and Jamal, and shrugged. “Okay—looks like it’s the four of us.”

  They had been walking for a few hours and almost reached the place where they had found the mine dungeon when Jamal asked what Ben’s plans for the visit to town were.

  “Well, first and foremost this is about meeting Rose and Jane to persuade them and selected family members to consider joining the Protectorate. My ambition is to convince them now, and then pick them—and whoever else they think appropriate—up in two more weeks."

  “On top of that, we need to play postal service and deliver a couple of letters. One from Luz to her sister, another from Liz and Zack to friends. Deepika also asked us to deliver messages to faculty and students at the university, and lastly, Julia needs us to drop off a couple of messages at the hospital.”

  “That’s quite a few stops, boss. Let’s hope the town is in decent shape.”

  Ben nodded. “Yes, indeed.”

  Time passed quickly as Michael scouted ahead while the others were mostly relaxed. Even Adam, who hadn’t left the settlement for the past month, was in good spirits, impressed by how efficiently they caught a boar that provided dinner and breakfast.

  Michael managed to ambush a lone wolf, but otherwise their trip was uneventful until the forest began thinning out near Simonston.

  About an hour before they would leave the forest for good, Michael signaled that there was something ahead, but did not draw a weapon. As Ben and the others reached him, he pointed through a couple of trees where they saw a middle-aged couple foraging; they looked healthy but tired and a bit dirty.

  Ben nodded towards them, and everybody agreed. Without trying to hide their approach, Ben and the group headed towards the couple, with Michael, as usual, vanishing somewhere in the forest.

  As the couple looked up, Ben waved at them. “Hello there. How are you?”

  They both smiled openly but appeared slightly taken aback by the group's armor and weapons.

  The man spoke up, “Good to meet you. I am Joseph, this is my wife Joanne. You young men look quite impressive, if I may say so. What brings you here?”

  Ben chuckled. “Thank you. I’m Ben, and these are Adam and Jamal. We’re on our way to town, meeting some friends. How are things in the city?”

  Joanne frowned. “Meeting friends in town...? Does that mean you're not living here but in the forest, or have you been hiking all the way from Carlston?”

  “No, no, not from Carlston—we’re just on a trip.” Adam clearly wanted to reassure the couple without giving too much away. “Anyway, I gather you’re foraging out here? Any luck?”

  Joseph wagged his head. “Not as much as we would have liked, but you know how it is—the grocery stores are out of stock, and the new pop-up markets are very expensive unless you have something to barter… If we had weapons and knew how to use them, we might hunt instead, but for now, we're just gathering mushrooms and wild herbs.”

  Ben nodded. “Makes sense. Wishing you the best of luck!” With that, he waved and started to continue their trek, but Joanne stopped him with a pleading look.

  “Wait, please. Do you have any food you can share? You look like you can easily hunt in these woods…”

  “Jo, please!” Joseph hissed at his wife, clearly angry at her for begging for food.

  Adam looked at Ben, who nodded, and then pulled some grilled meat from their last meal out of his backpack and handed it to the woman. “Here, hope it helps!”

  “We really can’t accept this,” Joseph mumbled, but Joanne had already taken it and talked over her husband, “Thank you so much. This will be a couple of meals for us. I never knew how stressful it is if you have to worry over every single meal. Bless you!”

  A few minutes later, Jamal rumbled, “This does not bode well for what's happening in the city.” The others just nodded and got lost in their own thoughts.