“It’s been some time since we caught up as a group. I thought I’d give you an update on a few developments,” Adam said as he opened the council meeting.

  It was the day after they had returned from the city.

  “First, we have had an enormous influx of people over the last week—more than 150—taking us to more than 500. This intake differs from previous ones—many of the new arrivals need caretakers. Fortunately, we have a disproportionate number of teachers in our population, so the kids should be handled, but our capacity to help all the traumatized people is stretched to the limit. It also seems that the elderly we took in are largely self-sufficient, based on the strength they have gained from the Energy influx. Still, they won’t be adding to our defenses or active workforce in the short term.”

  Ben nodded. “Before you continue, I got a notification after breakfast when the new arrivals registered. As a reward for reaching 500 citizens, we got a few new infrastructure options. I haven’t gone through every menu to check, but the two main things I found are an option to message every citizen within our area for 500 SCs, and—and that is a big one—an option to increase the size of our existing apartment buildings, adding another floor and expanding the space by fifty percent.”

  “That is very helpful.” Adam smiled. “Let me briefly check.”

  His perks allowed him to process the Settlement Interface quickly and compare it to previous versions.

  “A few minor additions that might help later, but nothing major—aside from the spatial anchor reward.”

  “Oh yeah, let’s buy that one right away!”

  Barry cleared his throat. “What was that again?”

  “We had that mission to save a couple of very powerful fighters—where we picked up the orphans—and as a reward we got a single-use portal for them, but for that to work we need this spatial anchor added to our Protectorate Pillar,” Ben explained.

  “I think we should buy the messaging option. It will help us greatly in emergencies and to make sure everyone stays abreast of what is happening,” Allison said.

  Adam nodded vigorously. “Fully agree. Also, talking about keeping people in the loop—I talked with Howard, our resident sociologist. Based on his integration work, he recommended holding listening sessions where citizens can share concerns or ideas with you, Ben.”

  If somebody had made the suggestion two days earlier, he would have declined, being tired of too much social interaction. But the two days in the forest plus a good night’s sleep and an extended [Meditation] session in the morning had recharged him.

  “Sure, if it helps, I’m happy to do it. But of course, this would be mandatory for the whole council,” he said with a wink.

  “Okay, back to the apartment-upgrade option. That would be 4,000 SCs, meaning most of our SC savings would be gone. On the plus side, it’s quite a discount versus buying more buildings, it means we don’t need to expand our borders for a longer time, and it will take us to a capacity of almost 800 people, which is reasonably close to Level 3,” Adam brought them back to one of their favorite topics—building things.

  Ben shrugged. “Seems like a no-brainer to me. We wanted a dense city anyway, and three stories is not really that much yet. Anybody disagree?”

  The others shook their heads. “Good. Let’s buy the messaging system, inform people that they need to leave their buildings today in the afternoon, and then build things!” Ben summarized their decisions.

  “Next, the elixirs Luz made have been distributed as you directed. Ashley, the professor, and Allison have gotten them and report no negative side effects,” Adam said.

  Allison nodded. “Yes, quite amazing. Gaining a single point in Magic feels surprisingly intense. It should help get me to the next step.”

  “Talking about the professor, I’ll need to take him with me to the Grove of the Silent Sentinels. I’ll make an attempt to get a rare perk.”

  “When will you leave?” Barry asked.

  “We need to make a deeper run at some of our dungeons after the last few days, so it will have to be in two days, I think.”

  Allison nodded. “That works. It’s great that we have the Grove, though it’s a shame it takes a full day to reach and return—and that most can’t access it without serious protection.”

  “Yes, that is true. Unfortunately, there is nobody but me right now who is Tier 2 and actually needs it. I hope that changes soon.”

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Allison smiled. “It will, have a bit of trust.”

  “I do! I just feel like we need to accelerate everything—but I don’t know how.”

  “That brings us to Simonston. From what I heard, they offered you the leadership?” Adam asked.

  “Yes. I had some time to think about it during our journey back. First, I won’t become their leader—I don’t see how it could work, and I’m busy enough with what we’re trying to do here. Second, to the extent that it’s possible, given how slow it is to get there, we can have some sort of protection agreement with them that would need to be negotiated. Third, we should deliver food if we can and also trade with them. I already said that we are interested in Energy cores. Lastly, maybe we can also take some of their weakest, like the orphans we took in, every month.”

  Barry slowly nodded his head. “To your last point, we should make it a deal where we take their weakest, but they need to come with caretakers and also some people who would be willing to become Protectors.”

  “That sounds good. It also gives us a clear path to Level 3, independent from the missions that you do,” Adam agreed.

  “We’ll save who we can, but adults joining outside emergencies must first agree to our values.” Ben looked at the others, who nodded. “Ok, if we all agree, then I would suggest that you, Adam, head back to the city with a team to lead the negotiations. OK?”

  “Sure.”

  “But please try not to get lost this time, ok?” Ben said with a wink.

  ***

  “I wanted to check with you before suggesting this to her.”

  Deepika and Howard exchanged a look, neither wanting to speak first.

  “Listen, it was just an idea, and I completely understand if you don’t think it’s a good one,” Ben said.

  “I think it’s fine. She’ll love it, and it’s just a day trip after all,” Howard said slowly.

  Deepika nodded.

  “Yes, the trek itself is just half a day one way; however, once I start to meditate, it’s hard for me to judge how long that will take. So it might be that she would have to wait for me together with the rest of my team for half a day or more…”

  Deepika shrugged. “If I understood you right, they’ll be inside the grove, which sounds reasonably safe. So the answer is yes—she can go if she wants to.”

  An hour later, Ben found Sarah. “I will leave tomorrow with the professor and my team to the Grove of the Silent Sentinels. It’s about a half-day hike each way. There I will try to evolve one of my perks. I thought this might be a good opportunity for you to experience a short mission outside the settlement. Do you want to come?”

  “Yes! Definitely. I’ll be ready.” Her eyes went wide; she could barely contain her excitement.

  Ben raised an eyebrow. “Have you not forgotten something?”

  She looked at him questioningly until a few seconds later she twitched in frustration. “I have to ask my parents.”

  “Exactly! Not sure why it’s so hard to remember that. But because I know you, I’ve already asked them, and they agreed,” he said with a chuckle.

  “Thank you! And in the future, I’ll remember to ask first.”

  “Good. Be ready tomorrow morning.”

  ***

  They made their way quickly to the grove with little interruption along the way. Allison had again opted to stay at home. She and Barry were conducting trials and exercises for existing and incoming Protectors. The increasing number of fighters in the settlement slowly increased the workload she had to deal with beyond the constant dungeon runs.

  Sarah had no problems keeping up and attentively listened to the discussions that Ben had with the professor. During the one fight with a small group of Dire Wolves, she also kept back as she had promised before they left the settlement.

  The rope ladder was still in place and the grove empty.

  The moment Ben entered it, he felt the peacefulness embrace him. A lot of stress that he had held onto fell off him.

  “To summarize, we believe that the combination of grove and [Clarity] will allow me to evolve [Frenzy] and upgrade it to a rare perk.”

  “Indeed. It would be great progress, not just for you but also for our research. Once we have that confirmed, we need to investigate what can replace my perk in the process, as it can only be used once per tier.”

  “Ok, let’s do this.”

  Ben sat down in the lotus position. The professor stood behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

  “As discussed, you trigger [Meditation] first, then I will follow up with [Clarity].”

  Ben closed his eyes and started to meditate. He had barely begun when a jolt of energy—or was it Energy—surged through him as the professor activated his perk. Ben was swept away, entering deeper into his [Meditation] than ever before and arriving in the mist-filled space with the golden platform and Path he used to shape his perks, this time without any detour. It felt as clear as it had when he had entered here powered by the Systems during his tiering-up process.

  The golden sphere representing [Frenzy] flew out of the ground and into his hand. It had been clear for a long time that he didn’t want this perk anymore, but it had taken a long time to get a clear vision for what he wanted instead.

  What he wanted—and needed—was to defend his people and repay in kind those who attacked him or his home.

  He wasn’t a vengeful person, but he would not yield, and those who crossed him needed to grasp—viscerally—that their Path and his were incompatible, and only one would walk away once the confrontation began.

  That left the question: how will it work?

  His thoughts were crisp and clear. He remembered the sacrifice and strength of [Cleave] when he had first gotten it—as a means to protect his mother. He remembered the empowerment of [Frenzy]; he remembered the feedback of his armor against an attack. But he also remembered how Jamal’s [Guardian’s Bond] let him take on the damage that others suffered.

  He needed a synthesis of all of that—something that punished those who hurt him and his friends, something that allowed him to deal damage against tough targets. While the fights against the Warriors had felt easy, Ben knew that wasn’t his future. The evolved rat dungeon had given him a taste, and once they had to enter true Tier 2 dungeons, his current damage output would no longer be sufficient. He didn’t fear sacrificing his health if it meant reaching his goals.

  He would not yield.

  After only a brief contemplation, the sphere representing [Frenzy] pulsed, swelling brighter and, more importantly, feeling utterly different.

  Once its changes were complete, it settled back into the Path below him.

  He opened his eyes.