The crystal chandeliers of Aetheris Academy's Realm Awakening Hall cast too-bright light over the rows of students, and Laia Hayes had to squint to see the scuffed second-hand awakening crystal in her palms.
She'd worked three months of night shifts at the tavern down the street to afford this thing—three months of scrubbing mugs and carrying trays, skipping half her meals to save up. Everyone else around her held brand-new Luminite Crystals, the kind that could amplify divine energy ten times over, the kind that cost more than Laia made in a year.
Then again, no one expected much from the orphan scholarship kid, anyway.
"Next. Laia Hayes."
The instructor's voice pulled her out of her thoughts, and Laia hurried forward, tucking her frayed cloak tighter around herself, setting the dented crystal on the testing platform. The stares from the rich kids in the rows behind her were nothing new. She was the only kid in the entire academy who'd gotten in on a full ride, the only one who couldn't afford realm expansion tokens, the only one who had to work through holidays just to pay her tuition.
She closed her eyes, whispering a quiet prayer under her breath. Just small. Just a tiny pocket realm, a thousand people at most. A few casual worshippers, dropping a little faith tax every month, enough to cover tuition. That was all she needed.
Everyone knew the rules, after all.
Every person turned eighteen, they woke their divine realm. A god's power was tied to their realm—bigger realm, stronger productivity, stronger the god. Lose your realm, and you became someone else's Godsbane, a servant for life.
Normal gods lived on faith. Casual worshippers gave you stray prayers, regulars gave you steady tithes, the more devout they were, the more power they fed you. That's why every god was fighting over fanatics, turning those people into their own personal power batteries.
Laia never dared dream of any of that. She just wanted to graduate, get a normal job, stop going to bed hungry.
Beep. Realm awakening in progress.
The cold automated voice rang out, and Laia held her breath.
Beep. Realm awakening complete.
Realm size: Micro Pocket Realm. Current population: 0.
Current divine rank: Demigod.
She let out a quiet sigh of relief. Perfect. Exactly what she needed. She snuck open the realm's entrance, turning the barrier as low as it would go—she'd heard there were refugees pouring out of the Chaos Sea lately, people whose realms had gotten eaten by the Corruption. If she could pick up a few of them, even casual worshippers, they'd pay her enough tax to get by.
She'd barely finished lowering the ward when a dozen bodies went barrelling through the entrance, all at once.
Laia blinked.
That was... faster than she expected?
On the other side, the dozen people who'd just stumbled out of the Chaos Sea froze, staring.
Kane Voss leaned against his half-broken power armor, chest heaving, and stared at the clean, green land under his boots. The wind carried the smell of grass and rain, washing away the acrid tang of Corruption that had clung to them for seven days straight. They'd been running for a week, the chasing Greater God's divine sense nipping at their heels, and they'd been sure they were dead. Until they'd slammed into this stable little realm?
"Are you sure we didn't crash into some war god's trap?" Rokar Stonefist rumbled, his green knuckles white around his stone fist. The orc's face was still crusted with blood, the last of the fight with the god's enforcers. "A realm this small, and it blocked a Greater God's divine sense? That's impossible."
Torin Ironvein's golden eyes scanned the tree line, his dragon scales still half-regrown, the gash on his arm oozing faint golden blood. He'd taken the Greater God's smite to the face to buy the rest of them time, and he could barely lift his arm right now—but the realm's little barrier had blocked that god's sense like it was nothing?
"No," Elara Moonwhisper whispered, her silver-gold hair tangled with dirt, her pointed ears twitching as she breathed in the dense, clean aura here. "There's no Corruption here. Not a single trace. How can a realm this small have no Corruption erosion?"
Kael Darkveil's shadowy form flickered, the dark elf barely holding his shape, and he hissed, "It's a hidden Overgod, isn't it? Pretending to be a weak demigod to hide out? If we reveal ourselves—"
"Shut it," Mephis Abyssborn snapped, his broken horn still throbbing, shoving his own abyss power down as far as it would go. The demon's red skin was pale with exhaustion. "We play refugees. Normal worshippers. Beg her to take us in. Lay low until the heat dies down. This... this hidden god won't turn us over, right? Not if she's hiding from that bastard too."
Borin Ironforge huffed, tapping his broken hammer handle against his boot. The dwarf's beard was singed, and his leather armor was torn to shreds. "About time. My mead's almost gone, and I'm sick of eating rations."
Jax Shadowstep tucked his tiefling tail under his cloak, the little red tip almost slipping out, and he glanced over his shoulder. "Everyone, hide your power. Don't want to tip her off that we're not just normal refugees. If she really is an Overgod, we don't want to piss her off."
Wolfric Wildwood's wolf-like ears twitched, the shifter's nose twitching at the god's aura on the other side. It was... soft. Warm. No cold, heavy pressure like every other god he'd ever met. "Her divine sense... it feels normal? Weak, even?"
"That's the hiding!" Elowen Foxwhisper hissed, her fox ears flicking as she wove a quick illusion to hide them, her amber eyes bright with nerves. "Overgods do that! Hide their power to walk among mortals! You've never heard of that?"
Rhea Cloudwing pulled her thin, iridescent wings tight against her back, the rakkasra queen's swarm power almost drained dry, and she nodded. "Alright. Let's go. We tell her our realm got eaten by the Corruption. Beg her to let us stay. Just lay low."
One by one, they lowered their heads, shoving their power down as far as it would go, turning themselves into a ragtag bunch of ragged refugees, and started walking toward the center of the little realm.
Back in the awakening hall, Laia Hayes was staring at her realm panel, eyes wide.
Detected new followers: 12. Refugees from the Chaos Sea!
Twelve? All at once?
She clapped her hands quietly, giddy. She'd thought she'd get lucky with one or two, but twelve?
She did the math in her head: if each of them paid her a single silver a month in tax, that was twelve silver. If they worked the fields, that would be even more. That would cover her tuition! She could even buy a new awakening crystal! No more night shifts! No more skipping meals!
Yes! Finally!
She was still grinning to herself when the testing crystal on the platform suddenly blazed with searing gold light.
The top-of-the-line crystal, the one that could measure all the way up to Overgod realm, had been dark this whole time. Now it spiked, slamming straight into the top of the scale, the red alarm lights flashing so fast they blurred.
"Wait—wait a second!" The instructor yelled, his voice cracking, staring at the crystal like he'd seen a ghost. "Your realm energy... it's... it's over the Overgod threshold?!"
The entire hall went dead silent. Every head turned, staring at Laia, eyes wide.
"Her realm energy?!"
"Wait, I thought she was a broke demigod?!"
"That's a hidden Overgod! She bought the second-hand crystal to hide?!"
"Of course she's been low-key! She's a bloody Overgod slumming it!"
Laia Hayes stood there, blinking, staring at the exploding crystal, then at her realm panel, at the twelve ragged refugees who'd just wandered into her little pocket realm.
Huh?
What?
It was just twelve refugees?
Why was everyone freaking out?