Tess had expected many potential scenarios playing out upon their return once more to the Tutorial. None of them were that there would be nobody waiting for them at the obelisk. It was more that she could not have conceived a reason why she would not have to fight her way to Viktor from the first step rather than that she had never thought of it.

“Why would he leave it undefended? He fought us himself to try and stop us leaving.”

“Should we head straight there? Or would you rather we take our time?” Charles asked.

“There has to be some catch, so if we end up at the cottage without discovering it, we’ll be behind. Let’s figure out what is going on.”

As they dove deeper into the Tutorial, they continued to find no other evidence of people in hiding. It unnerved Tess in a way that she failed to understand, which was only adding to her confusion.

“Wait,” she finally said, grabbing Charles’ arm, “Let me try something.”

“Okay?” he responded in a confused tone.

Tess closed her eyes focusing intently on her memories of the Tutorial and its layout. She had traversed the entirety of the Tutorial multiple times throughout her tenure here and as such knew the position of everything. That had been critical to her attempts to speedrun the Tutorial when she had still originally maintained hope of escaping.

With eyes still closed, she suddenly leapt upwards and began swinging and leaping through the forest around them. Charles stared in amazement as she circled him a few times before darting off in a direction. She intended to head to the closest dungeon, as it was a significant landmark. As she moved through the trees, things began to feel right as she navigated with her memory. So when she failed to grab onto the next branch that should have been where her hand was, her eyes shot open to land gracefully. Charles was only a moment behind her.

“What have they done?” Tess asked.

Before her, where there should not only have been the tree she should have been grabbing but a further continuation of the forest, was a field of stumps. Hundreds of trees had been felled, which was not necessarily impossible. These trees however had clearly not been reset at the last increment, something not even Tess had managed to make break within the System.

“They are causing it to throw errors,” Charles murmured.

“What does that mean?”

“I’m not really sure. It’s something Chariel would have said, I think. Something about things not working how they’re supposed to.”

“It’s like…” Tess began.

“The Tutorial level has failed to revert to its original state,” came a voice from nearby.

Given the pair’s heightened senses, that anyone was able to sneak up to them was a shock. They turned, weapons drawn, only to see Viktor’s golem… no, the quantum… standing there.

“You,” Tess said.

“Greetings, Lady Theresa. Mister Charles. I am called Origin.”

“Are you going to stop us?” Tess demanded.

“No.”

“Are you going to help us then?”

“No.”

“Then why are you here?” Charles asked.

“I have calculated that my master is set to lose the coming conflict against you. Regardless of my attempts to intervene, the odds continue to decrease. As such, for the sake of self preservation, I must inform you of my own withdrawal from this conflict.”

“Why tell us? You could have just never shown your face to us again,” Tess asked.

“My protocols dictate that I must attempt a reconciliation. While my master has scoffed at things such as ‘morals’ and ‘ethics,’ I have observed that the majority of others do hold onto such things. If I am to separate from the destructive path he traverses, I should instill myself with new protocols.”

“That is… surprisingly reasonable,” Charles commented, “I wish someone else would take that stance.”

“Apologize by telling us what Viktor has prepared for us,” Tess said.

Origin remained silent, which started to irritate Tess. Whatever Viktor had been doing was wrecking the Tutorial, the place that she called home for so long. Now here stood someone with an insight into what was causing it and they were refusing. She stormed over to Origin and pointed the Witchblade at the glowing core in his chest area.

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“Tell me what he’s done to my home!”

If Origin was capable of fear, his form was incapable of expressing it in a manner she could identify.

“He has maintained open portals to various universes where he has been extracting resources and personnel, both willing and unwilling, to participate in his plan. With each one he adds, there is an unknown energy leaking into this Tutorial which is causing the instability. He has brought those under his leadership to his facility here.”

“What is this facility? Where is it?” Tess asked.

“It is where the cabin was located.”

Tess felt a sting in her heart, knowing that her cottage had been desecrated somehow.

“Who are these personnel he has brought in from these places?” Charles asked, as Tess was too stunned.

“They are those written of in the texts located at the cabin. He has taken some in for his experiments while others have joined him willingly. Those that chose neither were destroyed.”

Tess felt every word crushed her spirit. She had spent the equivalent of multiple lifespans training those who passed through the Tutorial to be strong and overcome challenges. Now, those same individuals would be standing against her, were being tortured because of their abilities, or were dead. As heroes of their respective worlds, they were meant to be beacons of hope in dire situations. But her own actions had caused all of these worlds to be imperiled now. If she was meant to be a hero, she had failed to protect her world.

Charles pulled Tess up from where she had collapsed in despair. Tears streamed down her face as images of happy, young teenagers were twisted in dark versions or shredded beyond recognition played through her mind. She buried her face in his chest, his armor causing her pain, as she mumbled about her failure. Despite this, he simply held her tightly, allowing her emotions to run their course.

Tess was uncertain how long it had been since she had broken down. Nor was it apparent when Origin had departed. Charles finally released her.

“Feel better?” he asked.

“No.”

“Should we leave?”

“No. More are going to die if I do that.”

“A lot of people are going to die, regardless of when we strike.”

“Fewer if we strike now,” she snuffled.

“Alright.”

Charles stuck out his hand, which Tess took as they turned to head for the trap laid out for them.

----------------------------------------

The cottage was now dwarfed by a massive, boxy structure of metal and stone that seemed to have consumed the area. Billowing clouds of thick, black smoke poured from towering chimneys, choking out the sky above. Guard towers intermittently spaced and walls constructed from the felled trees stood tall all around the facility. Patrols crisscrossed the grounds inside the walls, leaving no noticeable openings where they would not be caught by someone. There were even some patrols going beyond the walls, though they left much larger gaps.

Tess had almost expected to find armies arrayed against them, but it would have been difficult to engage just two individuals with an entire army at once. It made the patrol format ideal, since only a few would engage them at any time. Clearly, Viktor expected Tess and Charles to cleave through the nameless soldiers with ease. That did not mean that the sheer number of soldiers could not bring them down in time. What concerned her more were the members of her former apprentices that would be trying to stop them.

As the pair examined the fortress in the distance before them, the first crack rang out. They were skilled enough to dodge the projectile that shattered the nearby boulder.

“Looks like they’ve spotted us already,” Charles said.

“You go through the front, I’ll take care of the sniper and go over the walls,” Tess replied.

Charles nodded. They broke from the cover they had taken, leaning on their speed related skills to charge forward while throwing in enough weaving motions to prevent the sniper from targeting them again. Tess watched Charles arc away towards the front gate area as she continued towards the nearest tower. It was not where the sniper had positioned themselves, as that seemed to be up on one of the chimney towers, but it would be her launching point for reaching them.

Transforming the Witchblade into its elongated form, Tess prepared two spells as she spun. The force of her spin added to the force that sliced open the wall of the tower before her. She released the explosive spell inside the tower, with the other spell forming a barrier to keep all the energy pointed inwards. The explosion burst through every opening, tearing doors off and shattering other weak points as the inferno sought any escape route. The poor soldiers inside did not even understand what happened to them as they were incinerated.

Using the magical barrier as a sort of springboard, she leapt to the top of the tower she had sent her spell into. It was wavering as the residual flames caught on the wood of the nearby walls and the inside, but it held long enough for her to make another leap. It seemed that the sniper had held off his next shot, as Tess found herself flying towards the barrel of the rifle aiming at her.

“Hmm. Hunter,” she said, noticing for the first time who it was aiming at her.

The flash of gunpowder signaled the shot to her, and she twisted midair before using her shapeshifting ability to transform into a bird. The shot missed as her form was now much smaller than it was when targeted. Swooping up, she transformed back before landing right behind the sniper.

“You let your opponent get close again, Hunter,” she said.

“Fortunately, I worked on closing that gap!” he yelled, attacking with a large knife.

Tess caught the knife with the dagger form of the Witchblade, parrying it away and leaving Hunter wide open. She slashed towards his wrist, severing the tendons and forcing him to drop his melee weapon.

“Not enough, you didn’t.”

“No. Please! He made me. He threatened my kids!”

Tess paused. It was possible that some of them were coerced.

“What are their names?” she asked.

“Uh… What?”

She stabbed through his neck, causing blood to pour forth.

“You always mentioned that you hated kids. When you have them, you remember their names instantly.”

His eyes bulged as he clutched at his throat. Tess watched in cold anger as the first of however many former apprentices fell at her hand. With the reset suspended, she had no idea whether they might return.