The mission had been quite simple, as the target had been an even smaller Buddhist temple. Ben and team had brought the abbot of the first temple they had visited along, which had simplified the conversation even more. Now they had seven new citizens who had integrated very well with the existing population.
In parallel, of course, they had done daily dungeon runs. For now, they had stayed on the first level of both the mine dungeon as well as the Retskul one. Not because they couldn’t do more, but rather because they were all happy about a few days of reduced challenge. They would soon have to delve the dungeons to the very end, just so they had more of a buffer on the break timers in case something did come up.
He had also had a first session with Keith, the therapist they had picked up from Antarctica. He withheld judgment for now but acknowledged that in principle, this should be a good thing.
He very much enjoyed the meditation sessions with the abbot and other monks. They provided a level of peace that he deeply relished.
The training had been a mixture of morning fitness, martial arts training with the other Protectors, some one-to-one sessions with Barry, as well as dedicated sprint training with Tracy. All physical activities had happened on their new training grounds, and while he hadn’t gotten a new perk yet, Ben was still very satisfied with the facilities.
As happy as he was, and as much as he liked training, interval sprints were no fun—especially after 45 minutes of uninterrupted torture.
Fortunately, his Body attribute prevented him from vomiting, but he was pretty sure that any “normal” person would have looked for a bucket by now.
“Come on, Ben. Get up. Three more runs and you are done for today. Come on!” Tracy yelled at him.
He liked her, he really did, but right now he was considering banishing her from the Protectorate for all time.
Groaning, he got up. Two lengths of the training ground was the next interval. He took the position, Tracy clapped, and he ran. He was pretty sure that his time would be a world record, but stopping and turning around was almost harder than the run itself due to the momentum he had.
Hands on his head, he walked through the deep breaths he had to take to not collapse on the ground.
A few seconds later, he saw Tracy getting ready to yell at him again. He raised his finger, daring her to make him run again.
She grinned. “Come on, Ben. Two more. Get ready!”
He wasn’t quite sure whether he should laugh or cry, so instead he just got ready and, on her signal, ran the three lengths he was supposed to.
Congratulations, intense practice under knowledgeable instructors has culminated in the following perk:
[Fast Body] — Enhances speed of movement. Common
“Yes! I got it!” Ben yelled.
“I think you are just saying that to get out of the last run,” Tracy laughed.
A golden notification blinked in the corner of his eyes.
Congratulations, the common perks [Agile Body], [Strong Body], and [Fast Body] have been merged:
[Strengthened Body] — Body attribute +1. Allows a more efficient exertion of the body’s capabilities. Uncommon
As he was done, another notification came up.
Finally, Tier 2! It has just been a month, but it feels like it has taken a long time. Let’s see what that gets us.
Congratulations, you have reached 20 in one of your attributes!
This is an achievement that few reach early and an important point to start shaping your own Path of growth.
When one reaches the threshold, a Direction can be chosen that defines that attribute's development.
Be conscious of your path, and make your choice:
Strength – You overpower the challenges before you
Endurance – You outlast the challenges before you
Constitution – You resist the challenges before you
Speed – You outpace the challenges before you
Dexterity – You evade the challenges before you
Ben frowned. This wasn’t Tier 2 yet?
He had read the book about perks that Barry had quoted to him a while back, and this hadn’t been mentioned there.
He wondered what this direction did and whether there was more to the “Path” than just the metaphorical meaning.
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Anyway, this did seem like a meaningful decision and probably one that wasn’t easily reversible.
He sat down to think it through.
He could easily exclude Speed. That wasn’t him. He was happy with the speed that his body was now capable of, but it wasn’t how he saw himself.
Dexterity was a closer choice, but in the end more something he saw for someone like Michael, or maybe Anne. It was clearly beneficial to anybody, but maybe a tiny bit less important if you wanted to get in close and personal with your axe.
The last three were hard. All appealed to him.
To outlast his challenges sounded good. He was well aware that the new world wouldn’t go away overnight. The Protectorate would be a marathon, not a sprint. But he would not run away from the challenges that came to them. He would face them. And for that, he needed strength or constitution.
Two remaining.
Constitution sounded good. He knew how it felt when your body was no longer able to resist the stresses placed on it—when your body wouldn’t do what you wanted it to do. This resonated with him deeply.
But so did strength. He could not shake the thought that if he had been stronger, if he had killed their enemies faster, Simon would still be around. And if one thing was certain, it was that there would be more enemies—likely an endless stream. Strength would be what allowed him to face them.
He lay back and stared into the sky. He spent another 15 minutes thinking about his choice, getting comfortable with what he thought the answer would be.
But there was another certainty in his life. And that was his family, his friends. He could be sure that they would offer well-thought-through opinions. The choice would be his, but he wanted to hear their thoughts.
With that, he got up and went to search for Barry, Adam, and his mother, after thanking Tracy for her exceptional training and apologizing for getting into a foul mood in the end—fortunately, she just laughed it off and congratulated him on the uncommon perk.
***
A few minutes later, he sat in the inn with his mother, Barry, and Adam around him and explained the situation.
“So you are not Tier 2 yet?” Adam asked.
“No, not yet. I assume, or hope, that that will come after this selection, but I don’t know.”
“Mhhh, I think this is a difficult choice. One that definitely is yours and nobody else’s,” Barry mused. “I would recommend that you go back to your ‘why’ and think about which of those directions resonates with that.”
Ben smiled, “That is indeed pretty close to what I have done. Still, would love to hear your thoughts about the options.”
“I think it’s strength or constitution. You were never the guy to run around or make backflips. One of those two is going to help you achieve what you want,” Adam weighed in.
“I agree. And as your mother, and as somebody who has seen you in all of these dungeons, I think it should be constitution. I have seen you hurt before, and anything that keeps that from happening again is good, in my book.”
“Remember the second mantra, Power without Mastery is emptiness. If you think about it a bit, you can also come to something like, Mastery overcomes Power. Now what could that mean?” Barry grinned at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, I love that you try to make even this a teaching moment… I assume you want to say that there are other ways to project power than just strength?”
“Indeed. We can work on your techniques to make you win your fights faster, but it is quite hard to substitute a healthy body.”
Ben nodded and pulled out a folded piece of paper and slid it over the table to his mother.
She took it, opened it, and laughed, “Very good, son. I think it is the right choice.” She showed the word constitution written on it to Adam and Barry.
“You tease, now don’t hold back and do it, I want to see you move to Tier 2,” Adam said.
“I genuinely wanted to hear whether you had other thoughts. But I agree with what you said, as the Protector, I need to be the sword, but also the shield, and constitution will hopefully give me the time to be both.”
With that, he confirmed his choice.
And immediately regretted it—at least not doing it while sitting in the inn.
He felt Energy being pushed into him. It was painful, but bearable.
Unsure of what to expect next, he slid his chair back and lay down on the floor.
More and more Energy poured in until he felt stuffed like a turkey on Thanksgiving.
Just as he thought he might burst, something inside him popped—the Energy seeped into his bones, sinking deep into the marrow and hardening their density.
The flow built again, another pop, this time surging into his gut and inner organs. He couldn’t name them all, but it felt like his liver and kidneys were among those fortified.
One final swell, one final pop—the Energy spread through his skin, making it feel not thicker or coarser, but somehow elastic and unyielding.
As the last traces of Energy faded, the process was complete. “That looked intense,” Adam deadpanned.
“It was intense,” Ben chuckled. “But it felt like quite a substantive change.” He poked at his own arm, sensing a difference but struggling to articulate it. “Hard to say what it has done, but it seemed to affect my bones, gut, and skin.”
“Great, that should hopefully strengthen your immune system by quite a bit!” Allison exclaimed happily.
A system notification waited for him.
Congratulations on choosing your Direction.
A synergy was identified with [Resilient Body], you can expect faster healing rates outside of combat.
Choosing a direction is just the start, take further steps to reach the next Stage.
Steps can be taken by consuming dedicated potions, relevant intense experiences, or other rare methods.
Good luck!
For the first time in a while, Ben looked at his Status.
STATUS
Name: Ben Jackson
Tier: 1
ATTRIBUTES
Body: 20 — Constitution: Stage 1, Step 0/3
Mind: 14
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
[Body]
- [Resilient Body] — When out of combat, your body will fix itself over time. Rare
- [Axe Handling] — Whether felling trees or your enemies, you are on the path to axe mastery. Uncommon
- [Frenzy] — In heated battle your Body attribute is raised by 2, Mind increasingly reduced with duration of battle, after battle Body reduced by 2 until rest. Uncommon
- [Strengthened Body] — Body attribute +1. Allows a more efficient exertion of the body’s capabilities. Uncommon
- [Self?Defense] — First steps toward martial?arts mastery. Common
[Mind]
- [Calm] — Improves composure in high-stress situations. Common
- [Party Coordination] — Improves team positioning and timing. Common
- [Public Speaking] — Improves your ability to convey your intent. Common
- [Breathing] — Accelerates recovery from physical and mental exertion. Common
[Magic]
- None
His happiness about the increased attribute was tempered by his confusion and frustration about still being Tier 1.