“As we’re sharing perks,” said Julia, “I’ll go next. I have two healing-related perks. One helps me quickly stop bleeding, and the other is called [Healing Touch]. It lets me heal minor wounds, but it takes a few minutes of focused effort, so it’s probably not much help during a fight.”

  Tracy’s eyes lit up. “Wow, that’s amazing. Real magic! Compared to that, my perks are pretty basic. My first was [Instructor: Fitness], which lets my students improve faster. Then, through my own workouts, I got [Agile Body], which boosts flexibility. If I had any combat skills, I’m sure it would help more—but on its own, I don’t know how much use I’ll be in a fight.”

  Ben smiled. “That sounds incredibly helpful for the community. Don’t worry about it. So far, we’ve mostly seen wolves and boars. They’ve been alone or in small groups. As long as that doesn’t change, we’ll be fine.”

  His estimate of the group’s fitness proved accurate, and they made good progress. But under the thick canopy of the forest, darkness fell quickly, and they had to make camp after less than two hours of brisk hiking.

  Fortunately, there was plenty of dry wood. The fire wasn’t needed for warmth, but it made everyone feel safer and helped those on watch see better—as long as they looked away from the flames, not into them.

  As they sat around the fire, eating some of the food Julia had packed, Deepika smiled. “Ben, campfire time is story time. Would you mind sharing how you created this magical place that, according to Sarah, can grow buildings from the ground in seconds?”

  Julia looked surprised. “You can grow buildings in seconds? Mom never mentioned that! She just said it was a safe zone…”

  Ben grinned. “She probably wanted to keep it a surprise—you know how she is.” He turned to Deepika. “Sure, I’m happy to tell the story.”

  And with that, he shared how he had been alone in the forest when the Energy wave hit Earth, how he had fallen into a dungeon, and the obligations the System had placed on the settlement. He kept the personal rewards and burdens to himself.

  “This is so cool!” Sarah exclaimed. “Like a real-life hero from a manga!”

  Deepika smiled and rubbed her daughter’s back. “I have to agree with Sarah—this is really cool. Creating a place for your friends, your family, and even strangers to be safe during all this madness... that’s admirable.”

  Ben blushed slightly as others around the fire nodded in agreement.

  Julia leaned in. “She’s right. And I had no idea how risky the last few days were for you. But—” she gave him a mischievous look, “don’t let it get to your head, or I’ll start telling stories about that one time—”

  “No need! No need!” Ben interrupted quickly. “Let’s try to get some rest, everyone.”

  The group laughed at the siblings’ antics and began settling down. There weren’t enough bedrolls for everyone, but they made do—jackets became pillows, and the forest floor, fortunately, wasn’t too rough.

  They’d agreed on rotating watches, with two people awake at all times. They wanted Sarah to get a full night’s rest, but she insisted on taking a shift. She joined Ben and Deepika in the early morning, just before dawn.

  The night passed without incident—no predators, no strange noises. But as people stirred and got up the next morning, few looked particularly well-rested.

  Nonetheless, the mood was good as they resumed their hike. The elevation gradually increased, and with it came their first sightings of beasts that hadn’t lived in the Blue Mountain Forest before the Energy arrived.

  When they saw their first sizable boar, Ben asked them to change formation. Instead of walking in a loose line, they formed a more defensive circle: Sarah and Julia in the middle, Anne and Ben up front, with Deepika, Tracy, and Damien covering the sides and rear.

  Throughout the morning, they came across a couple of large deer, a lone wolf, and two more boars. All of them fled at the sight of the group of seven.

  By noon, the team was worn out—from the lack of sleep, the physical strain, and the constant tension of feeling under threat. They decided to break for a cold lunch beside a narrow mountain stream carrying crystal-clear water.

  “I regret every day I spent in the office instead of finding Tracy to help me get in shape,” Deepika said with a rueful smile.

  “You’re in fantastic shape,” Tracy replied encouragingly. “Most of my clients couldn’t do half of this! Why don’t we all do a little light stretching to prevent muscle cramps? Just follow along.”

  Though most of them just wanted to sit and rest, everyone eventually joined in. Tracy led a short series of exercises that left their muscles feeling more relaxed and energized.

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  “That was really cool. Thanks, Tracy!” Sarah beamed, echoed by grateful nods from the others.

  A few hours later, as they continued their ascent, Ben began to feel increasingly agitated—a tightness rising in his gut. At first glance, the forest around them looked unchanged. Shafts of sunlight pierced the canopy, but the forest floor remained shadowed. Ben couldn’t immediately pinpoint what was bothering him. He increased his pace slightly, moving a few meters ahead of the group, scanning.

  “What is it, Ben?” Anne asked, noting the way his head kept sweeping side to side. “Do you see something?”

  “No… and that’s what worries me.”

  “It’s really quiet, isn’t it?” Sarah added.

  That was it. Ben realized what had been bothering him—the complete absence of birdsong and scurrying squirrels. He raised a hand to signal the others to stop and stay quiet. With a conscious breath, he entered [Calm], sharpening his perception. Slowly, he circled the group, watching and listening.

  “Over there,” Deepika whispered, pointing to their right.

  Ben followed her gaze—and caught a flicker of movement. A gray tail disappeared behind a tree. Now that he knew what to look for, he saw them: wolves.

  Not just one—at least half a dozen. They were circling the group, hidden behind trees, closing in.

  “Six wolves,” Ben said grimly. “We’re surrounded. This won’t be easy, but we can handle it. I’ll try to keep their attention. Sis, don’t worry about me—focus on the others. Damien, target those who try to flank. Anne, last line of defense.”

  He took a deep breath, acknowledging to himself how serious this was. The goal wasn’t just to win—it was to keep the group safe. Without a taunt ability like Jamal’s, he would have to force the wolves to focus on him. Risky—but with Anne and Damien at his back, it was possible.

  He called on the full strength of his Body attribute, sprinting the ten meters to the nearest wolf. Without finesse, he unleashed an underhand swing of his axe toward its neck. The wolf tried to dodge—evading a blow that would have decapitated it—but the axe still struck deep, slicing an artery and spraying blood over them both.

  Ben didn’t pause to finish the job. He whirled around, screaming at the top of his lungs to draw attention as he sprinted toward the next wolf. It lowered its center of gravity, baring finger-length ivory teeth.

  Ben charged again, aiming for another fast takedown—but this wolf was ready. It dodged and circled left. As Ben pivoted to follow, he caught a flicker of movement: a [Flame Spark] arcing toward another wolf on the far side—Damien’s doing.

  Ben turned back to his target, lunged with a quick two-step move, and brought down his axe. Normally, such a move wouldn’t carry enough force—but with a Body stat of 18, it was different. The blow left a deep gash in the wolf’s flank.

  He prepared to follow up—but pain exploded in his calf. A second wolf had snuck up and clamped its jaws around his leg. His knee buckled, but he used the fall to angle a vicious strike that nearly severed the attacker’s hind leg. The wolf yowled and released him.

  Ben spun back just in time to see the wounded wolf he’d attacked earlier lunging at him. He raised his left arm to block, taking fresh bite wounds—but then swung his axe one-handed, slashing into the beast’s ribs and ending it.

  He finished the downed attacker with a swift blow to the spine, pushed himself upright—favoring his right leg—and turned to re-engage.

  But the fight was already over.

  He saw one smoldering corpse, likely Damien’s work. Anne was finishing off another wolf, which had become stuck in a fissure in the ground. The first wolf he’d struck had bled out a few meters away. The last had fled.

  Ben hobbled back to the others. “Everyone okay?”

  “Oh my god, Ben—sit down! Let me look at that!” Julia exclaimed.

  The rest of the group looked equally shocked.

  “Don’t worry, not all this blood is mine,” Ben joked, though pain was rapidly catching up to him. Sitting sounded like a good idea.

  He sat, and Julia began rolling up his sleeve and pant leg to inspect the wounds, using [Bandage] as she worked. Ben used some of their water to wash the blood off his face.

  “Don’t worry too much,” he said. “These wounds look bad, but they’ll heal—half a day, tops.”

  “They might,” Julia replied, frowning. “But even if that’s true, hiking with a half-chewed leg isn’t ideal, is it?”

  He had to concede the point. Julia spent the next ten minutes applying [Healing Touch].

  “Wow—this works even faster on you than my other patients! I can actually see the wound closing,” she said, amazed.

  “Must be [Resilient Body] synergizing with your healing. I’ll take it!” he replied with a grin.

  Julia mussed his hair. “Still no excuse to get yourself chewed up. I think you are enjoying this too much.”

  He shrugged, then turned to Anne. “What happened on your end?”

  “We worked well as a team,” she said. “Damien took one out with a mini fireball”—she winked at him, as Tracy hugged him—“and Deepika caught this one”—she gestured to the wolf near her—“by [Displac]ing the earth under its front legs. It got stuck just long enough for me to finish it.”

  “The last one ran off,” she added. “Probably after seeing some bloody madman running around swinging an axe.”

  That got a few chuckles.

  “Great work. And that’s a very handy perk,” he gave a brief nod to Deepika.

  “I think there are other ways to use it,” she said modestly, “but for my first-ever fight, I guess it was okay.”

  “I’m proud of you, Mom,” Sarah said. Then she turned to Ben. “Weren’t you scared? Charging in like that?”

  “A little,” he admitted. “But I was very motivated to keep all of you safe. I’ve had some experience with these fights by now—and I’ve got a perk that helps me stay calm in situations like this…”

  He looked around. “Let’s take a short break. Damien, would you mind harvesting the cores?”

  They all nodded. Twenty minutes later, they were back on the trail—one battle behind them, and the settlement a bit closer.

  Whether it was because the wolf pack had cleared the area or for some other reason, they were left alone for the next few hours.

  Ben turned to Damien. “Theoretically, we still have an hour or two of proper light. But if you see a deer or boar within range of your [Flame Spark], we could stop early and grill the meat for a proper dinner. I sort of feel like we earned it…”

  Damien nodded. “I’ll keep my eyes peeled. If anybody sees a target, let me know.”

  That last part was especially aimed at Deepika, who over the last day had proven to have sharp perception—something that, according to the System, tended to go hand in hand with a high Mind attribute.

  Sure enough, within the next hour they managed to hunt down a small boar and made camp not far from the spot. Anne prepared a campfire and began roasting the meat.

  After the day’s exertions, everyone was tired and hungry, and deeply grateful for the warm meal.