The bird looked at him curiously and then continued to straighten his feathers.
Ben took a deep breath and activated [Evolved Bond], his latest perk.
It triggered, and he felt a new sense—one he was unfamiliar with—reaching out to the creature he’d grown surprisingly fond of over the past few weeks, like a searching tendril.
As it connected with Hercules, the eagle’s head perked up and turned towards Ben. He felt confusion—but also confidence. Confusion not just about this latest development, but also about the world and, most importantly, about the changes Hercules had undergone himself. Confidence in his own capabilities—maybe not fully warranted—and in Ben, whom he considered someone to trust. One of those who would help build a community against the beasts that felt unnatural—despite the tasty snacks hidden in their chests.
But the tendril was not a one-way street. Ben could sense how Hercules tentatively reached across the bridge to get a sense of Ben’s feelings, so he tried to convey partnership, protection, and a sense of growth.
Hercules screeched and hopped excitedly from one leg to the other.
Ben shaped the tendril into a gentle question, and Hercules accepted with a loud clack of his beak.
Congratulations, you have formed an [Evolved Bond] with Hercules, the Golden Eagle. You have gained Mind +1.
Good luck!
Ben felt the connection snap into place, and the tentative tendril solidified into a permanent sense at the back of his mind—one that conveyed not only Hercules’ current excitement but also his direction and distance.
The additional point in Mind infused his brain, and he felt the familiar pain and shock, but it faded quickly.
At the same time he felt first confusion, then elation from Hercules as the bird visibly grew, surpassing even his already impressive size.
Ben couldn’t have been happier with the development—not just because he was one step closer to evolving his Mind attribute, but also because he had gained another member of his community—of his family.
He checked his Status for the first time in a while.
STATUS
Name: Ben Jackson
Tier: 2
Path: Path of the Unyielding Protector
ATTRIBUTES
Body: 24 — Constitution: Stage 1, Step 2/3 (Minor Resilient Skin; Minor Poison Resistance)
Mind: 18
Magic: 6
PERKS
[General]
- [Analyze] — Grants insight into objects, creatures, and sapient beings. Not upgradeable.
- [Multi-Lingual] — Allows comprehension and communication across most sapient languages, verbal and written. Not upgradeable.
- [Knight Protector] — Establishes and governs a Protectorate; +1 to every attribute per settlement level; chosen core attribute (Body) gains +10 % per five dungeon tiers integrated. Unique — Path Alignment: Foundational
[Body]
- [Resilient Body] — When out of combat, your body will fix itself over time. Rare — Path Alignment: Positive
- [Axe Handling] — Whether felling trees or your enemies, you are on the path to axe mastery. Uncommon — Path Alignment: Neutral
- [Unyielding Retribution] — Once per confrontation, when you or a nearby party member is targeted by an attack—whether it hits, is blocked, or dodged—empower your next strike in this confrontation to deal a multiple of that attack’s effective damage to its source. Rare — Path Alignment: Positive
- [Strengthened Body] — Body attribute +1. Allows a more efficient exertion of the body’s capabilities. Uncommon — Path Alignment: Positive
- [Self?Defense] — First steps toward martial?arts mastery. Common — Path Alignment: Neutral
[Mind]
- [Meditation] — Significantly increases control over emotions and recovery speed for an extended period after a meditation session. Uncommon — Path Alignment: Positive
- [Palisade of the Mind] — Defends against attacks on the Mind as if the attribute were +5. Uncommon — Path Alignment: Positive
- [Strength of the Protector] — Once a day provide your team members with a small amount of your attributes for a short duration. Uncommon — Path Alignment: Positive
- [Evolved Bond] — You can offer an evolved local creature a bond, which must be accepted voluntarily. Once accepted, you and the creature share an innate understanding of each other’s priorities and emotions while within range. Both you and the creature gain a small percentage of each other’s main attribute.
You can only maintain one bond at a time. Uncommon — Path Alignment: Positive - [Public Speaking] — Improves your ability to convey your intent. Common — Path Alignment: Positive
- [Administration] — Increases the effectiveness of managing complex institutions. Common — Path Alignment: Neutral
- [Perceptive Mind] — Enhances all senses. Common — Path Alignment: Positive
[Magic]
- None
“I assume you were successful, son?” Allison said with a smile.
“Yes, a full success. We are now bonded, and it even gave an attribute point!”
“Lynx!” Anne shouted.
“Me too!” Sarah yelled.
Hercules screeched and pushed himself into the air, circling the grove and looking for a snack.
***
“Boss, just to let you know that Michael and the SEALs have left for a few days on a hunting trip.”
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“A hunting trip? Are they going far?” Ben asked.
“I don’t think so, but I am sure they will be safe. Should I talk to boss mom about a replacement for our upcoming dungeon runs?”
“No, it should be fine. Should we struggle, which I don’t expect, we can cut the runs short and stay on the higher levels.”
“Okay, boss.”
***
“How many people do we expect to show up?” Ben asked.
“Hard to say, but I would expect the auditorium to be pretty full. Probably most of the adult citizens will be present. It is a big deal,” Adam replied.
“Okay, let’s do this,” Ben said as he got up and walked out of his office towards the auditorium on the ground floor of the HQ.
They had chosen the place for the first listening session of the Protectorate as the evenings slowly became a bit chillier.
The summer had already been much more persistent than usual in their northern climate, and Ben wondered whether that was a side effect of Energy.
The agenda for the meeting was simple: first, they would listen to any concerns that people had, and then they would introduce their economic model, which in turn was likely to cause a lot of questions as well.
Ben arrived at the auditorium and was overwhelmed by the number of people that had already made their way to the large hall. When in a dungeon or out on a mission it was easy to forget how much the Protectorate had grown in recent months.
Barely more than ten weeks ago they had been fifteen people living in a few wooden cabins. Now they were more than 850 people and rapidly closing in on Level 3.
He walked down the declining aisle until he reached the stage at the bottom of the hall. Somebody had placed a few chairs on the stage where he and the other council members could sit.
Adam, Barry, and his mother joined him, and the soft murmuring in the room quieted down as Adam cleared his throat—a sound that was carried through the whole room by some inbuilt enchantment.
“Good evening everyone, and thanks for joining. I hope you know that your input and thoughts are very important to us as a council. So far, we could reasonably gather your inputs just by talking to you while going through our days, but we have grown a lot and want to make these kinds of sessions a regular part of life in the Protectorate. Let’s get right to it and open the floor to any questions or concerns you may have.”
Ben thought that Adam had hit the right tone, and several people stood up to be recognized for questions.
Adam selected Rose, their head librarian, first.
“First, I want to thank you for all the hard work you are doing for us. Second, and this is not a complaint, if things continue as they have, we could really benefit from a proper school building. We have so many children of different ages that having them all in this room at the same time is not ideal. I realize there are many demands on the budget, but if possible, I think this would be a great help.”
Adam nodded to Barry, who replied by laying out that a school was a priority and how it would fit into the overall plans for the Academy, but that it simply was not an option provided by the systems. However, the moment it would become available it would be high on the priority list.
The next question was from a man that Ben did not recognize, likely from one of their missions.
“I heard that we are delivering food to Simonston, and we have grown so much—do we have enough food for all of us?”
Adam answered the question himself. “I can assure you that we have more than enough food, and we are only delivering our surplus to Simonston, a city in dire need of help. We have, just the other day, opened a new greenhouse, and to this day haven’t even taken over all instances in the Livestock dungeon. Even without any changes we would be able to feed a large multiple of the number of people in this settlement.”
The murmur in the room indicated that this had been a question on many people’s minds, but the relieved smiles and nodding showed that Adam had successfully reassured people.
More questions were asked about access to the Protectors, Ben’s thoughts on the Draknik incursion, what the Energy Enhanced Evolution Chamber was, and many more.
Ben addressed some of them, but was happy that the other councilors covered the majority. It felt like a productive session even if, or maybe because, there was nothing surprising coming up.
An older man stood up and was recognized to ask his question.
“It is a large surprise for me to say this, as just a couple of months ago I was mostly thinking about all my maladies and hurts, but now I am eager to work and contribute more, and I think I am not the only one. We see how hard you work. I don’t think I can help you clear dungeons, but I could contribute more if you give me an opportunity.”
Adam seemed inclined to answer the question himself, but Ben raised a finger, indicating that he would be happy to take that one, to which Adam nodded gladly.
“Thank you for the offer to contribute, and to everyone who already does and wants to do more. Only if everyone steps up can we live up to our values and aspirations. I think this is a great segue to our second topic for today.”
He waved for Madeleine to join them on stage.
“Since Arrival Day, here in the Protectorate we have basically done away with concepts of personal possessions, salaries, and wealth. And frankly, I don’t think we would have survived otherwise. But it feels like we have achieved a minimal level of stability by now, and that gives us the opportunity to address some of the drawbacks of that approach. As we grow, it is impossible for us in the Council to know how you can contribute best. Maybe you would be great as a chef, or a smith, or a researcher. Maybe you want a stable salary, or you would like to use the opportunities in this new world to build a business.
“We want to give everyone the freedom to find their own path—and in doing so strengthen the whole. We therefore announce today the introduction of a new economic model. Before I hand over to Adam and Madeleine to explain the model in detail, let me lay out the principles of what we are trying to do.
“First, nobody will fall through the cracks. You are expected to contribute according to your abilities, but if you can’t, you don’t have to fear eviction or hunger.
“Second, we will have a market-based model that will reward those who take risks, whether that means economic risk or risking their lives in our defense.
“Third, the Protectorate will offer a strong infrastructure, be it education, security, or administration, that will enable this economy. It will be debt-free, and a significant share of its proceeds will go into growing the infrastructure—versus just paying for operations. That means that it will need to be funded accordingly via transaction fees and rent.
“Fourth, to help kick-start good business ideas, I will offer a large share of my personal assets via the Protector Fund as seed money.
“Fifth, we will introduce all of this gradually so that we can all get used to it.
“I sincerely believe that this is the right path for us moving forward. I am also sure that we will have to adjust things along the way, but if there is one thing that we have all gotten used to over the last couple of months it is improvisation.”
He got a few laughs at the end, but it was clear that people were trying hard to process what he had just said and what it would mean to them.
Adam and Madeleine did a great job laying out the details on how access to assets would be auctioned off, how the basic income and rent would work, and transaction fees for citizens—they had now agreed to link the fees to citizenship, not just to the geographic area of the Protectorate. They closed with the interim solution for dungeon clearing and the role that the Protectorate Administration would play.
It took a while until the first question was raised. It was Arthur Cackett, their judge.
“Ben, you said earlier that you want a substantial part of the Protectorate’s funding to go to infrastructure. Can you elaborate a bit on how you see that working?”
“Yes. First, I would like to thank Adam and Madeleine for the hard work they have done to get us to this place. They have also calculated the model and how all of this can be sustained. To answer your question, we think of the Protectorate’s budget as having an Operating Fund and a Capital Fund. The Operating Fund is paying for the basic income, salaries, etc., and is supposed to be funded primarily by recurring income from rent and transaction fees. The Capital Fund shall be focused on building apartments, workshops, and all the other things we need to grow and defend ourselves. The main source of revenue to fund this should be the dungeons—initially directly from the cores we harvest, eventually from access fees to the dungeons. As a rule, we want, as a minimum, to have 70% of those revenues be converted to Settlement Credits that allow us to grow the settlement.”
There were a few more questions, but it was clear that people needed time to process these changes, and Adam closed the meeting with the promise to have a dedicated session soon.