Rook noticed her before the System warned him.
A flicker of movement at the edge of his expanded vision range—slow, deliberate, not panicked. He shifted slightly atop the watchtower, eyes narrowing as the figure emerged from the tree line.
A woman.
She stopped several steps short of the boundary string, boots muddy, jacket torn at the sleeve. One side of her dark hair was tied back haphazardly, the rest loose and tangled, clinging to her neck with sweat. There was dried blood on her forearm—someone else's, judging by how carefully she avoided favoring it.
She looked tired.
Not weak.
Not desperate.
Just… worn down.
Her eyes traced the palisade, the watchtower, the cleared ground inside the territory. They lingered on the cabin last.
"You actually built," she said.
Rook descended the ladder and stopped well inside the boundary, crowbar resting loosely in his hand.
"Yes."
She tilted her head slightly, gaze flicking down the fluorescent string marking the perimeter, then back up. "Most people don't even know this exists."
"I know."
A pause stretched between them.
Wind moved through the valley, lifting the hem of her jacket just enough to show a bandage wrapped tight around her thigh. She adjusted it absently, wincing before she caught herself.
Not a performance.
A tell.
"You recruiting?" she asked.
Rook studied her the way he studied structures before building—load-bearing points, failure risks, long-term value.
"No," he said.
That genuinely surprised her.
She exhaled, shoulders dropping a fraction. "Good. Then I won't pretend I'm ready."
Smart.
She stepped back instead of forward, deliberately increasing the distance between herself and the boundary.
"I'll remember this place," she said. "If it's still standing."
"It will be," Rook replied.
That earned him a look—sharp, assessing, and faintly amused.
"We'll see."
She turned and disappeared back into the trees, boots quiet against the soil.
Rook waited until the System confirmed her presence was gone before returning to the cabin.
The notification arrived the moment he sat.
[Level 10 Reached.]
No fanfare.
Just weight.
New panels unfolded across his interface, cleaner and more complex than before.
[Class Advancement Available.]
[Engineer – Foundation Class]
Beneath it, branching paths revealed themselves like schematics half-hidden under tracing paper.
— Field Engineer
— Systems Engineer
— Territory Engineer
— Hybrid Paths (Locked)
Rook didn't touch any of them.
Yet.
Another panel slid open.
[Talent Points Available: 2]
[Skill Efficiency Increased.]
[Construction Scaling Unlocked.]
He scrolled further, eyes steady.
Automation.Power distribution.Structural synergy.
This wasn't about a new title.
It was about deciding what kind of problem he would become.
Outside, the valley remained quiet.
Somewhere beyond it, people were still chasing levels.
Rook closed the interface and stood.
Tomorrow, he'd build again.
And when he chose his next step—
He'd do it deliberately.