After having dropped off the mongooses, Ben stood in the library with Rose. She pointed to a few shelves at the back. “That’s the religious section now. We have most of the books from the Buddhist monasteries there, as well as from St. Catherine’s Monastery Library.”

  “It’s awe-inspiring to see books more than a thousand years old—even if it is just a replica, it is so lifelike that it might as well be the original.”

  “I agree, it makes me happy to think that we can do a little bit to preserve our heritage—but you should have seen the monastery itself… We have to go back at some point and reclaim all of these places for humanity, too.”

  “That would be nice. Now, let me show you the reward we received.”

  She walked over to her desk and pulled out two books. The covers looked similar; they might be connected. One was significantly thinner than the other, though.

  “This time, we got something for herbalism. The first book describes how to create an herb garden for Energy-infused plants. The bigger one is a comprehensive manual of herbs and their most common uses.” Rose looked at him expectantly, waiting for a reaction.

  Ben looked back. “Is something wrong?”

  “No, not at all, I was just wondering how useful this is, given that Liz and Zack are already producing food at a rapid pace in the greenhouses.”

  Ben took the books and flipped through them.

  “We have to see, and we might need Luz and the biologists to weigh in, but I suspect that using Energy to grow food quickly and growing herbs that have Energy in them might be very different things.” He continued to skim the pages. “Here, look at this—it seems that we need to build a small scaffold across the flower beds in which Energy cores need to be placed. This looks like a very expensive but potentially quite profitable endeavor.

  “Rest assured, I am quite happy with this and with any other kind of knowledge that we gain!”

  ***

  Carter walked the few steps from his place to Marcus’ workshop. He knocked and entered. Two of Marcus’ apprentices hovered in the background, but the big man was waiting patiently at the main crafting table in the middle of the room.

  “You brought it?”

  Carter raised the bag he carried. “I did.” They had never been men of many words. That was one of the reasons why they had chosen the rather lonely lifestyle as lumberjacks in Jackson’s camp. He was still happy that Ben had created the Protectorate with all the new people coming in. A safe haven in the middle of all the chaos around them was exactly what they needed—what the world needed.

  He pulled his latest creation out of the bag and spread it out on the table.

  Marcus grunted. It was likely the most praise he would get out of the man. But Carter knew that his creation was a good one. After two months of non-stop work with leather, he and his perks had evolved quite a bit. He was sure there were people in the multiverse doing things he couldn’t imagine, but for now, this was good.

  Marcus brought over a large tray holding dozens of metal parts arranged side by side.

  He waved over one of his apprentices, who introduced himself. “Hi, I am Sebastian. I have a perk that should allow me to merge the leather and the metal pieces seamlessly.”

  Carter nodded. “Sounds good.”

  Marcus meticulously prepared the next phase by placing each piece from the tray on the leather, double-checking everything once he was done. He motioned to his apprentice to get going. “Quality over speed!”

  Sebastian took the first piece and slowly traced along its borders. It seemed to work. Even up close, Carter couldn’t see a gap or seam between the leather and the metal.

  They continued, and Sebastian started to sweat—the concentration and continuous use of his perk took its toll. Eventually, the last piece was done.

  Carter nodded to the two largest pieces. “I didn’t take you for an artist.”

  Marcus waved to the other apprentice. “Julius has a talent for enameling. It is his work.”

  “Well done,” he said to the young man. He turned back to his old friend. “Now the hard part?”

  “Now the hard part!”

  They talked through the plan once more and then got to work. It took almost an hour, and they consumed two Energy cores in the process, but at the end of it, they had completed the first joint enchantment they had ever crafted—probably the first one of its kind in the Protectorate, and maybe on Earth.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  He took a deep breath, wiped the sweat from his brow, and used [Analyze] on their shared creation.

  True Iron Armor of the Mongoose. Energy-infused item. Tier 1. Epic – Advanced. Minor self-repair. Wearer can’t be held in place easily. Attackers who land a hit on the wearer have a chance to be pushed back afterward.

  The self-repair effect had come from Marcus. One of Carter’s perks allowed him to unlock a characteristic of the original beast in the armor. The third effect, likely the most powerful enchantment they had done yet, was the result of their cooperation.

  He looked proudly at the two-piece armor. His leather looked like biker protective gear. It was jet black and consisted of a long-sleeved tunic and pants. He had reinforced the mongoose leather around the critical parts.

  It was further reinforced by dozens of pieces of True Iron metal plates. They were relatively thin, but they would improve the protection—especially against blunt weapons—dramatically. They were strategically placed to allow full range of motion while maximizing protection. Somehow, Marcus had managed to make them black as well.

  The two largest pieces were over the chest and the back. Both pieces bore the blue mountain and white Protectorate Pillar on a golden background within a circle, enameled in brilliant colors.

  The ensemble looked spectacular, if he could say so himself.

  Marcus lifted it. “It is quite heavy.”

  Carter just shrugged. “He can carry it. He’s strong.”

  ***

  It had been a day since their mission to Mount Sinai, and Ben was busy, still filling in for Adam, who seemed to be in no rush to come home and resume his duties.

  He had shared the herbalism book with Luz, but they had not yet decided whether she should pursue the herb garden on top of her other duties or treat it as something new. She seemed to be quite busy with working on potions from the materials collected on their first trip to the grove, which seemed a higher priority right now.

  He got up to go to his next meeting, this one with the inn staff who ran the settlement kitchen, when his mother stepped into his office. She looked serious.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  As she stepped to the side, Damien and Nils followed her.

  Ben’s thoughts started to race. Damien had led the team that had accompanied Adam to the city; both looked haggard and tired, their leather armor ripped and torn. He didn’t see any wounds, but maybe they had taken potions or had been healed on their arrival.

  Where is Adam? That was the question he was afraid to ask.

  “Tell me.”

  Damien swallowed hard and cleared his throat several times. He tried to meet Ben’s eyes but couldn’t. “The Warriors have abducted the rest of the team, including Adam.”

  Ben felt as if he had been slapped.

  He rose and turned to look out the window overlooking the plaza. He tried to get his thoughts in order, but his thoughts went immediately back to the conversation he had had with Councilor Stemberger during his visit to the Protectorate.

  He could have yielded to their demands and given them the food to distribute—or rather, to sell—in the city. But he had chosen not to.

  When he had agreed to send Adam and another team to the city, it had never even occurred to him that something like this might happen. That meant he had failed multiple times—by being stubborn, and by not considering the consequences of his actions.

  He briefly entered [Meditation] to calm himself. Nobody would be helped by him losing his head. Focus and calm were needed now.

  After a few silent seconds, he turned back to them and motioned toward his conference table. “Please have a seat. Have you had food?”

  The two men waved it off. “We can eat later.”

  Ben nodded. “Please tell me what happened.”

  Damien recounted how he had stepped away and how he saw his team surrounded and beaten when he returned. Nils filled in some gaps, especially how Smith, the Warrior Lieutenant who had visited them, made it clear that all food had to go through them and that the Protectorate now had to follow their orders.

  Damien then explained how he had followed them to their base and where that was.

  Apparently, the two had struggled enormously on their trek back—after all, a mage and a ranged fighter were not best equipped to fight the Energy-born creatures on the mountain. They had made it, however, though heavily wounded. The medical team had to do quite a bit of healing before they came up to Ben.

  Towards the end, Damien almost broke down, apologizing for his failure.

  “Damien, you are not responsible for the evil actions of others. I don’t see what you could have done differently. We are family—never forget that. Now go eat and rest, and thank you for fighting your way up here to tell us. I truly appreciate it!”

  After they left, he dropped his head onto the table. “Shit! I messed up!”

  “What did you mess up, son?”

  “I didn’t make an agreement with the Warriors and didn’t even consider the consequences for the team.”

  “Well, first, let me remind you of what you just said to Damien. We are not responsible for other people’s evil. Second, making deals with criminals is not how your father and I raised you. It was the right decision. And lastly, it was my suggestion and call to send Damien and the team. This new life that we live does not give us the luxury of wallowing in our mistakes. We need to learn from them, but we also need to move on. Understood?”

  “Yes, Mom.”

  “We will get them back!”

  “We will get them back! If I have to tear down half the city, we will get them back!” Ben almost shouted at the end.

  “Do we bring everything we have or a small, fast group?”

  Ben thought about it. His first instinct was to bring most Protectors. From everything he could tell, the Warriors had dozens of members, maybe even more. At the same time, that would put the settlement at risk, and he didn’t really want a large-scale war that would harm innocent bystanders and put the hostages at risk. No, the better way was probably to go with the core team, maybe with one or two additions, and then try to get his people out without having a large-scale engagement. Michael’s skills would have to play a key role.

  “Just the core team. We could potentially bring Barry?”

  Allison slowly nodded, then shook her head. “I agree with the core team; it will make us quicker and increase our chances to get out unseen, but Barry needs to stay here. With you, Adam, and me away, someone has to lead the settlement.”

  Ben agreed. “Once this is over, Michael should train a few people in stealth. It would be good if we had more scouts and infiltrators.”

  Allison nodded. “Agreed, we will put it on the list.”

  There was a knock on the doorframe. Ben looked up to see Marcus and Carter standing there. “Hey guys, is it urgent?”

  Allison interrupted, “Talk with them; I will get us sorted. Let’s leave in one hour.”