Three weeks had passed since the meeting with Bartholomew. No attacks, no retaliation. The king of Bastion had kept his side of the bargain, and the Haven group honored the truce by not exposing to the masses that for the past eight years Bartholomew himself had been deliberately stalling progress and hiding the secret of the mechanism.

Luke hated it. He wanted the world to know. He wanted Bartholomew to burn. But deep down he knew this was the smartest move. Bastion's king feared being lynched if the truth came out, and for now, that fear was leverage. Ronan stepped into the role of liaison between the two Safe Zones, even knowing no one fully trusted him. Not a single Bastion resident was allowed inside the second fortress. Those who had joined the cause to find a way back to Earth were housed in the second Safe Zone's homes, kept at a comfortable distance from the walls.

Ronan told his soldiers they were staying back to defend against possible attacks, never admitting the Haven's mistrust.

Some truths were impossible to hide. Everyone already knew the fortress was tied to the mechanism. Allison had revealed it at the celebration, and even if she hadn't, the second fortress was proof enough that Bastion had its own mechanism. The official story was that Bartholomew had made a great sacrifice, hiding the truth to protect people from the terrorist Marshall. After Marshall's death, Bastion and the Haven had been free to cooperate, creating a new Safe Zone by activating the mechanism.

According to the narrative, while Bastion's faction handled security and maintenance, chosen members of the Haven searched for the second mechanism with Bartholomew's secret support, a covert plan to keep Marshall and his infiltrators from finding out.

And Luke, the so-called terrorist of the tutorial? Cleared, well, almost. The story painted him as an ally who had provided information to the Haven after being captured by Allison Rhiannon, recognizing her authority and realizing she was his best chance of escape. Along the way, Allison's own reputation skyrocketed. She had slain the Orc Lord, after all, while Luke remained a footnote. No one cared much about him, and the fact that he had never killed Bastion's civilian pursuers worked in his favor.

The only ones he had eliminated were assassins, and no one had even seen their bodies. Someone on Kruger's team had probably cleaned up the mess to preserve their public image. Officially, Luke had only ever fled. His steady work in the Safe Zone and quiet attitude reinforced his innocence.

The only stain left was Angelica's death, and outside the Haven, no one seemed to care. Dozens had died during the ant attack; to the masses she was just another name in a long list. Luke didn't bother debating the rest. Publicly, Bastion now cooperated through Ronan. In a city-wide meeting, he and Allison had announced the official conquest of the second Safe Zone and the joint plan to return to Earth.

Within a week, the place was overflowing with people. Bastion's soldiers, craftsmen, and Haven members pushed the project forward at an astonishing pace, fueled by the Safe Zone's abundant resources.

The first Safe Zone had been urban, but the second rose within a dense forest. The thick canopy and endless timber worked in their favor, especially with everyone collaborating. Hope became a kind of fuel. Nobody cared about pay or shifts. Some worked until they dropped because everyone understood the same thing: the faster they built together, the sooner they would be going home.

But a new problem had surfaced—or maybe not a problem so much as an anomaly. It had started a few days after the second mechanism was activated, or at least that was their suspicion. Back then, Luke and his group had been holed up in Evangeline's hideout, too focused on surviving to notice the change in the mechanism's notification.

Something had appeared there.

**The Second Mechanism Has Been Activated!**

Congratulations on activating the second mechanism. The second fortress now belongs to you. A new Safe Zone has emerged.

Benefits: Midnight Wardens will not enter the Safe Zone. A weekly cycle of reward event chests will appear within the Safe Zone. Torches across the fortress and Safe Zone will light up, alarms have been deactivated. The vault and chest storage of the Second Fortress are now accessible.

Useful locations in the Second Fortress: Forge, laboratories, library, training grounds, dormitories, indoor greenhouse, strategy room, armory, prison, interrogation chamber, workshop, mess hall, restrooms, watchtower, warehouse, kitchen, main hall, officers' quarters, infirmary, meeting rooms, central courtyard.

Useful locations in the city: River as a source of fresh water, houses for shelter, forest with natural resources for profession advancement, hunting, and training.

Tip: Many professions can be acquired here. Absorb knowledge, refine your techniques, enhance your skills, because the final war is approaching.

[The area of the third mechanism is undergoing changes. The castle's barrier is shifting, the seal weakens.]

[Warning: Only those who activated the mechanism can deactivate it.]

[Mechanisms activated: 2/3]

[Notice: With two mechanisms now activated, this tutorial is locked. No new participants will be able to enter this tutorial for the next year.]

The system's update came as a cold, unexpected warning: the tutorial was locked. It didn't derail their immediate plans, but it carried a strange, unsettling weight, like a bad omen no one could quite read. Would the warning vanish if they deactivated the mechanism? No one was sure. And in silence, they all shared the same thought: if Bartholomew had seen the same message on his own mechanism, he'd be praying for the group to die. That way he could lock himself inside the tutorial, rule alone, and never risk new people arriving again.

The fortress felt quieter than usual as Luke moved through the cold stone corridors. The air smelled of iron and damp wood, heavy with the constant work happening outside. When he stepped into his room, Jack was sitting on the bed, hair a mess, eyes still heavy with sleep.

"Morning," Luke said, closing the door behind him as he crossed to the small table pressed against the wall.

"Morning, Luke." Jack stretched with a lazy smile. "Man, who would've thought we'd be this close to going home? At first I figured someone would show up any second to kill us. But seeing everyone working together like this… it's almost inspiring. Like we're all employees of the Goddess of Kindness."

Luke pulled a map from his storage and spread it across the table, his finger tracing routes. He started updating notes about the river, marking hazards, crossing points, and suspicious zones. Lately, he hadn't had time to brew potions. He'd tried a few times, but the routine was brutal: either spend the whole day in the forest gathering ingredients or clear dangerous creatures from the path for others. In the end, the second option was more effective—make the road safe, make the return faster.

"Yeah, but don't drop your guard," Luke warned without looking up from the map. "Especially when you're outside the fortress, near Bartholomew's old soldiers."

"I seriously doubt it." Jack shook his head. "Ronan told me that if anything goes down, he'll personally march with his men to Bastion. Bartholomew's stretched thin now; most of his people are here, tied up in the war projects."

"I don't trust any of them. So… just a warning." Luke drew a small crocodile symbol on the map and added a question mark beside it—a zone still unexplored, maybe something to hand off to someone else. If there was any threat there, it had to reach the Haven leaders immediately. Clearing the river was top priority.

"Either way," Luke said at last, standing and tossing a towel toward Jack, "take a shower and be ready after lunch."

Jack caught it, brows raised.

"You didn't know? Today we're heading to the third mechanism. I'm taking you to the Capital."

Luke left the room, the door clicking shut behind him, leaving Jack frozen for a heartbeat, trying to process the news.

***

Luke made his way through the stone corridors toward the main gate. He nodded to familiar faces as he passed, soldiers, craftsmen, apprentices, each absorbed in their own work. Beyond the gates the sound shifted. The protected hush of the fortress gave way to the steady clamor of the Safe Zone.

The main street was alive. Hammers striking metal rang like war drums, the air thick with the scent of coal and freshly cut timber, and people hurried past carrying tools, buckets, and blocks of stone. The noise wasn't chaos; it was a pulse, the rhythm of a community on the move.

"Out of the way, quick!" shouted a worker hauling timbers on his shoulders as he sidestepped another carrier.

"Coal! Where's the kid with the coal?" another voice barked, anxious.

Nearby caves provided coal, ore, even flecks of gold sifted from the rivers. Entire crews were dedicated to turning those resources into boats, defenses, and infrastructure. The skeletal frame of a massive wooden ship rose near the makeshift docks, while smaller boats were nearly ready to slip into the water.

A sharp clang cracked across the street followed by a curse.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"I told you to be careful, you idiot!"

Luke turned his head to see a team hammering heavy steel components, cannons and prototypes of siege weapons. It was here, in the heat of the forge and the sweat of countless brows, that they were building what they would need to survive the tutorial's final event.

He crossed to a plain-looking building with a sign swaying in the wind. Pushing the door open, he stepped into the cool dimness of an inn. The scent of polished wood mingled with the aroma of dried herbs hanging above the counter.

"Good morning, rooms available," the attendant said, rehearsing a professional smile. The moment she recognized Luke, the smile flickered and died.

"Good morning to you too," he replied, strolling across the room.

"As I've already told you, I'm never speaking to you again," she muttered without lifting her eyes from the ledger.

Luke stopped at the counter, where a small potted plant sat beside the registry book. "I wasn't talking to you, Layla. I was saying good morning to this lovely lady."

He brushed a finger across one of the plant's leaves. Layla clicked her tongue, flipped a page, and huffed.

"How are you, Katarina?" Luke asked the plant.

"Katarina?" Layla echoed, frowning.

"That's her name. We've got history," Luke said. The little plant had given him the last sliver of experience he needed to reach level 60 and unlock Acid Blood Arrow, minutes before the fight with Kruger and his assassins. It had also warned him of an ambush from behind. If Layla and Eddie hadn't owned it, he would have gladly adopted the plant as a mascot.

"So, how's business?" he went on, eyes still on the plant.

Layla snapped the ledger shut. "You bankrupted my father, got us arrested for allegedly helping you. After that, no one wanted to deal with us, afraid of getting dragged into your mess."

"Hey, look on the bright side. We're going back to Earth," Luke said.

Layla lifted her eyes, voice dry. "Sure, some bad things turn out for good, but I'm not forgiving you for getting me arrested. I was humiliated in front of my friends."

"You have friends?" Luke asked, feigning surprise.

"I've got a few…" she coughed, as if to mask it.

"Hey, I don't judge anyone who doesn't. Don't worry."

She lowered the book and glared. "You're the weirdo here talking to plants, not me. You probably don't have any friends."

"I've got a few. My best friend's a skeleton, actually," Luke said with a crooked grin.

In his head, Artemis's voice dripped with sarcasm. 'And me, you idiot, don't I count as a friend?'

Luke glanced up at the ceiling for a heartbeat. Sometimes I wonder if they paired you with me just because you were too much trouble wherever you used to live, he thought back.

"Did you know I'm actually friends with Allison Rhiannon?" he asked Layla, switching the subject.

Layla burst out laughing. "The heroine of the Safe Zone? A noble from the world government?"

"You don't believe me?" Luke's tone stayed calm.

She kept laughing. Allison had become a celebrity, princess, leader, symbol, while Luke was still just 'Goblin Citizen Number 348 of the world.'

He sighed. "Do you know if Eleanor's around?"

"No, she left early," Layla said.

Luke nodded, letting it drop, and stepped back out into the street. Outside, the world roared on, alive with work and the pent-up energy of hundreds of people.

A familiar voice cut through the din. "Jerry!"

Luke's eyes snapped upward. Against the gray sky, Evangeline's raven glided down in a controlled dive, its black wings shimmering under the muted light. It skimmed his shoulder and veered toward the tents pitched beside the fortress. Without hesitation, Luke followed.

The camp smelled of leather, metal, and smoke. Ropes sagged between improvised masts, barrels lined the walkways, and maps were tacked to wooden boards. Soldiers moved in steady currents, hauling crates and checking weapons.

The raven disappeared into a large tent reinforced with heavy stakes. Luke pushed the canvas aside and stepped into a spacious interior lit by hanging lamps. A central table was covered in maps and paper stacks, colored markers marking troops and supplies.

Evangeline was there, hair tied in a simple bun, gaze sharp. A violet kimono belted with white gave her a strange mix of calm and authority. Mason hovered over a supply list while Ronan bent over the map. The raven flitted out again into the night.

"He's going to fetch the others," Evangeline said without looking up.

Ronan lifted his head, his voice low but steady. "All right, Luke. Looks like it's your show from here."

Luke gave a short nod. "How are your soldiers holding the gate?"

Since the activation of the second mechanism, Ronan had fortified the military camp outside the Capital's entrance. At first everyone suspected it was a stunt from Bartholomew to slow them down, but it turned out Ronan was moving preemptively. Undead had begun slipping out of the Capital.

Allison arrived moments later, hair pulled back, posture taut with the weight of leading nearly two thousand people.

"Just us for this meeting. Everyone else is tied up," she announced as she entered.

Ronan pulled a stack of papers and dropped them on the table. "Updated list of everything I've managed to move out of Bastion. More will arrive in the coming days."

Mason leaned over, eyes scanning. "All this?"

"It's stockpiled from years of work in Bastion," Ronan said. "Originally meant for a march on the castle."

"And Bartholomew?" Evangeline asked. "No pushback? No threats? Just… accepting it?"

Ronan braced his hands on the table. "Publicly, he can't do much. He, Kruger, and their cronies are still in the fortress. Plenty of people keep it running and handle the chest events. He's still holding some key pieces."

"And when everyone leaves?" Mason pressed. "You think Bartholomew will just let it happen?"

Allison folded her arms. "He still thinks we'll fail at the third fortress. He's betting on it."

"That's all he's got left," Ronan said quietly.

Luke let out a humorless laugh. "In the end, that bastard Bartholomew wins no matter what. If we die, he wins. If we succeed, he walks out of the tutorial and back to Earth without a scratch."

"It's the deal, and it includes my cooperation," Ronan replied. "I doubt you'd have gotten this far without me. Don't harm him, even if he curses you in the end. Just let the man go back to Earth. I owe him my life. Like it or not, he's the one who conquered a fortress and kept it standing all this time."

"Correction," Evangeline cut in. "It was that bastard and me, along with a few others."

Ronan gave a small nod.

Luke stayed silent, weighing his own plans. Bartholomew and Kruger had their places on his list, but for now the agreement would hold.

"What about Erza Grimhart?" Luke asked. "Still nothing? Just sitting there, killing time?"

"Like I said, don't count on that woman for anything. And for our own good, we should be grateful she's keeping neutral," Ronan answered.

Heads around the table nodded in agreement.

Mason glanced at his notes. "We need more food, faster crops, keep stockpiling wood, iron, stone, concrete. We also need to push the healers to level up as quickly as possible."

On the table, one of the maps showed Bastion covered in markings and recent adjustments.

"How long do you think the final event will last?" Ronan asked Allison.

Everyone knew the stockpiles weren't just for reaching the third fortress. They were for keeping nearly two thousand people alive inside it while resisting the final invasion.

"An invasion lasts one night, right? Until dawn," Evangeline ventured.

"You really think we'll get that lucky?" Mason shot back.

Knowing this tutorial, none of them did.

"It'll almost certainly be an event with no set time limit," Allison said.

"You can bet on it," Luke added.

Ronan exhaled, straightening the map. "Which brings us to the real point of this meeting."

All eyes turned toward Luke.

"So, guide," Evangeline said. "Why don't you run us through everything you know about the Capital again, this time in detail. We've only got a few hours before we leave."

***

Sunlight filtered through the clouds, spilling a pale glow across the courtyard outside the second fortress. On a makeshift platform of reinforced planks, Allison addressed the gathered crowd. Shoulders were stiff, eyes locked on her every movement. Beside her stood Ronan and Mason, while Luke watched from the base of the structure.

"And when we return successful…" Allison let the pause hang, calculated and deliberate. A hush rolled over the courtyard, expectation thick in the air. "We'll have everything we need for the final event… and we're going home!"

The tension snapped into cheers and whistles. Hats flew upward, hands lifted like a graduation ceremony. Fear and anxiety still clung to their faces, but hope burned brighter, rare enough in this tutorial that even a spark could set it ablaze.

Allison descended from the platform with the leaders of Haven and several Bastion soldiers. Mason and Ronan fell in step. The trio crossed the courtyard with steady strides, shaking hands, accepting offers of help, meeting eyes full of trust.

"Are you sure you don't need more people?" one craftsman pressed.

"I can carry supplies… anything…"

"No," Allison answered with a quick smile. "Our group is small but strong. We're going to kill the Beast Lord." She raised her katana, its blade glowing with a clear, sharp light, an aura that seemed to slice the air itself. "With this power, I know I can. But each of you has to do your part here."

It was a lie. A deliberate one. The Beast Lord had been dead for months, Luke had killed it long ago. But no one outside the core team knew. The performance had a purpose: to feed the collective morale, to prove a small team could face something monstrous and return alive. If they came back "victorious," it would ignite the flames of hope even higher and erode Bartholomew's grip.

Luke scanned the faces around him, feeling the weight of the secret. This trip to the Capital wasn't just a public show. It was a necessity: to level up, unlock epic class skills, test their strength, and prepare for the final mechanism. Princess Charlie needed to awaken her powers, and so did he.

The second objective was riskier: to infiltrate the third fortress, reach the mechanism's door, and trigger the notification that would explain the event. Only then could they prepare, as they had with the second fortress. And after that… goodbye to the tutorial.

***

By early afternoon the group had crossed into the Wild Zone. The day's heat was fading under a ceiling of thick clouds, and the wind carried the damp scent of rot and wet leaves. Tall trees cast long, crooked shadows across the uneven path. They moved in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

They stopped at a familiar campsite, a place where Luke had once fought side by side with Ronan. Returning there now with him felt strange, almost ironic.

"At last, here we are again," Luke murmured as he halted before the Capital's gate. The castle loomed on the horizon, a dark silhouette etched against a bruised sky, its walls rising like jagged teeth of stone.

The atmosphere shifted. The air grew colder, heavier, as if the world itself were holding its breath. Somewhere in the distance came a howl, or maybe it was only the wind threading through the broken towers.

At that moment, Luke couldn't have guessed how indelibly this day would scar itself into memory, or what awaited them inside that castle.

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