“Tracy and I discussed this, and our suggestion is to have a fitness class for everyone in the morning before breakfast. Twice a week, we’ll follow up with the militia for 90 minutes, working on basic self-defense and the spear. For the Protectors, we’ll have an additional fitness class in the evenings before dinner three times a week, and on four days we’ll have four hours of weapons and tactics training. Obviously, anyone on a dungeon run, watch duty, or recuperating is excused.”

  “I’m already starting to sweat,” Ben joked.

  “And I’m glad I’m only a member of the militia…” Adam grinned.

  “I know you have extensive martial arts experience, but do you also know how to teach us about medieval weapons?” Ben asked.

  Barry tilted his head slowly as he considered. “After you initially asked me about this, I spent quite a bit of time online trying to learn what I could. That hasn’t made me a master in sword or axe fighting, but fortunately, there are some common themes when it comes to fighting in general that will apply. Also, I’m hoping that once we get access to more advanced buildings, that will help too. In summary, I’m confident I can help to set people on a path—after that, we’ll see.”

  Ben was happy with that answer and looked forward to his first session.

  “One more point.” Barry continued. “In alignment with the parents I will set up school schedules for Sarah and the twins.”

  As they left the office, Ben stopped Barry to stay behind for a minute. "If it is not asking too much, I think I would like to get some one-on-one coaching from you, on top of all the other stuff. At least for the next few weeks. I feel like I need to step up my game..."

  Barry looked at him and thought for a moment before responding. "I am happy to do that. But please remember, in the last week you have stepped up to be one of the strongest on the planet, you have carved out this magical place for us, you have defeated three separate dungeons, and I could go on. It is great that you feel the need to improve, and we will all do everything in our power to help you, but don’t set unachievable expectations for yourself. Things will go wrong, and it won’t be your fault. And even if it was, none of us can do more than give our best." With that, Barry clapped him on the shoulder and left the office.

  Adam had asked everyone to come together after dinner, so the close to thirty citizens of the Protectorate stood together on the central plaza of their tiny community in the soft rays of the evening sun.

  Ben smiled at the group. "We are here today to update you on a couple of topics. But before we do that, I would like to officially welcome the new members of the Protectorate." He gestured to his sister’s family, Sarah and her family, as well as Anne and Tracy. Everybody clapped and Allison whistled loudly. Julia was clearly embarrassed, but the twins and Sarah enjoyed the attention.

  "Would you like to make it official?" Ben pointed towards the Protectorate Pillar and ushered them forward.

  They quickly went through the procedure and learned that for the kids it needed the approval of at least one parent to make the system accept them as citizens.

  "Great. I am extremely happy to have all of you with us. Next point, let me add our latest dungeon."

  With that, Ben pulled the dungeon core—the sphere of golden material, crisscrossed with a precise grid of softly glowing blue lines—they had acquired the day before out of his pocket.

  He walked to the west side of the plaza where, beside the portal to the rat dungeon, a plinth waited to be activated.

  He put the dungeon core on the plinth and a blue screen appeared in Ben’s vision:

  Tier-1 Dungeon integrated (2 levels)

  Current Theme: Mine

  Confirm theme or select new theme

  While the dungeon had been hard, Ben was happy with the idea of being able to collect resources from the mine, and given that they could keep the dungeon from breaking by frequently clearing out level 1, he was content to keep the dungeon theme unchanged.

  Ben had already seen it twice, but he still grinned as a pulse of golden Energy surged through the Protectorate Pillar. The plinth he had just used sank into the ground, replaced by a new marble portal rising, along with a new plinth on the east side of the plaza.

  Finally, the central pillar grew twice as much as before. With the additional forty centimeters it was now about two meters high, the four-sided golden pyramid on its top now reaching the height of the palisades that protected their settlement and reflecting the last rays of sunlight into the sky.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  The newest citizens who hadn’t experienced the magic of their new home were left mostly speechless. Julia just shook her head while Robin smiled slightly and calmed down the twins who wanted to run straight to the new portal.

  In the brief break, Adam walked up to Ben. "I had hoped that with a two-level dungeon we would get more SC per month, but unfortunately that isn’t true—it is still 500 per month. Good news, though, the kids count as citizens and we get SC for them as well each month."

  Ben nodded his thanks and continued addressing the group. "As a last point, we are of course a very small group right now," he said, smiling and waving across the small crowd. "However, as you know we have some very ambitious growth targets over the next few months, and to set us up for success from the start, I thought it would be good to create some institutions early on, even if it might feel like overkill right now.

  "Having said that, I have asked my mother to lead the Protector Guild. She and everyone joining her will be our primary defense force and tasked with keeping our dungeons from breaking. Of course, especially as long as we are such a small group, we still need everybody to chip in on watches etc., even if they have other priorities—that will be the militia."

  Ben saw Sarah’s eyes gleaming, so he added with a wink, "When I say everybody, I of course mean grown-ups only."

  "But I can help!" Sarah shouted.

  "I am sure you will," he said with a smile.

  "Second, as some of you confirmed just now, one of our core values is Growth—ever forward. I believe we can only achieve that if the Protectorate has a strong focus on education. Therefore, I have asked Barry to lead the Protectorate Academy. The initial focus will be to get us all in fighting shape, but it will also take care of school and so much more over time."

  The twins celebrated a new school, maybe not quite understanding that they would be the only ones at their age, and Sarah booed under her breath, which earned her an elbow in the ribs from her mother, who laughed at the same time.

  "Finally—and you already know this—Adam will lead the Protectorate Administration responsible for everything that makes the settlement tick in the future.

  "I hope that all of you will find a place in that set-up and feel free to approach the three leaders or myself if you have any questions or comments."

  With that, Luz made some of their precious soft drink and beer reserves available, and Ben made his rounds with people, receiving lots of positive feedback on the plans made.

  When he reached Julia she scowled at him, “why did you put mom in that position? It seems like you enjoy all the fighting, but why do you have to drag mom into it?”

  Ben was briefly taken aback by the outburst. “She is very good with people and I trust her to not put them in situations they can’t handle while keeping us safe.”

  “It just feels like you made us come here, which feels like a military camp. Exercise every morning, being part of a militia… Do you want Robby and Christina to serve in your little army as well? Involve the whole family?” She turned around and left towards the apartment building.

  Ben knew his sister well and was confident that by tomorrow she would be fine. In fairness to her, there was probably no one else who was more reluctantly part of the Protectorate. Without Allison and Robin talking her into it, she would have stayed in the city.

  Given how unique her healing perk was currently in the Protectorate, maybe they could focus her on that, and not so much on fighting. He would have to talk with his mother about the best way forward with Julia.

  Ben and Barry sat face to face on the ground of the impromptu training field they had created in the northwest corner of the settlement.

  Barry looked more at ease than Ben had ever seen him. Ben looked forward to his first one-on-one session with the teacher, wondering how painful it must have been for Barry not to teach for such a long time.

  “To achieve your goal of being one of the strongest people on Earth, you’ll need to master

  three questions,

  five mantras,

  seven techniques.

  In the next two weeks, we’ll touch on all of them. But make no mistake—we’ll barely scratch the surface, and true mastery is a long path. Some say it can’t be achieved in a single lifetime.

  I’d ask you to give me these two weeks, even if it’s hard or doesn’t make sense at first. Afterwards, you can decide whether to continue on this path.”

  Barry paused, giving Ben a moment to reflect and raise concerns.

  Ben thought it over. He lacked enough information to make a truly informed decision—but he trusted Barry. He could feel the teacher’s passion for the subject, and he felt his own urgent need to grow stronger. In the end, it was easy. He just smiled and nodded his agreement.

  “Very well. You’ll reflect on the questions largely on your own, and we’ll discuss your insights in our one-on-one time. The mantras and techniques will be taught to all Protectors, but we’ll also reflect on how they apply to you as a leader.

  On top of the structured training, I’ll expect you to do your homework. But don’t forget—rest is vital for both body and mind.

  Enough of that. Let’s begin.

  The three questions you need to find answers to are:

  Why?

  What is your body capable of?

  What, truly, is an axe?”

  Ben’s eyes twitched as he tried to process the questions. Barry didn’t push onward, just let him think.

  Why? Why anything? Why the Protectorate? Why this training? Ben considered his options and tentatively settled on “why this training.” His initial answer: “to get stronger.” Not the most inspired thought he’d ever had, but maybe a good starting point.

  Being able to walk again without help still made Ben incredibly happy. He felt strong and healthy, but he hadn’t tested the limits of his newfound strength.

  His axes had always been tools. He’d never had a strong emotional attachment to them—they were swapped out often due to wear. He briefly glanced at the battle axe that rarely left his side these days. He hadn’t yet taken the time to reflect on whether it was any different from the tools he’d used before.

  Ben looked up at Barry. “There’s definitely a lot to think about,” he said hesitantly.

  A smile tugged at Barry’s mouth. “Indeed. Tell me your interpretation of the questions. There’s no right or wrong answer.”

  “On ‘Why,’ my first answer is—to get stronger.”