Laia Hayes blinked at the exploding crystal, then at the crowd of students who were suddenly swarming toward her, their faces bright with awe.
"Miss Hayes! I'm Vance, from the Storm family! I have a few realm expansion tokens, would you—would you want them? For free?!" A blond rich kid pushed his way to the front, shoving a bag of glowing tokens into her hands like he was afraid she'd refuse.
Laia stared at the tokens. Those things cost a thousand gold each. What?
"Wait, I have extra divine crystals! I can give you those!" Another yelled, shoving a box of crystals at her. "And I have a spare dorm room, you can have it! No charge!"
"Wait no, mine's better!"
Laia stood there, holding a dozen bags of gifts, completely lost. What was happening? She'd just gotten 12 refugees, why was everyone giving her free stuff? Was the academy running some kind of refugee support program? That was nice! She'd never gotten free stuff before!
"Th-thank you?" She mumbled, tucking the bags into her frayed cloak. Wow, what a lucky break! Now she didn't have to work night shifts for a whole year!
The instructor hurried over, his face pale with respect, and bowed slightly. "Miss Hayes. The headmaster wants to see you. We've... we've adjusted your tuition. Full waiver, of course. And we've prepared the top-tier dorm for you, the one with the private realm link. If you need anything at all, just ask."
Laia blinked. Full tuition waiver? Top-tier dorm?
Wow. The refugee program was way better than she'd heard.
She nodded, still confused, and hurried out of the hall, clutching her gifts, already daydreaming about not having to scrub mugs ever again.
---
Inside the little pocket realm, the twelve runaways had finally reached the center of the clearing, and they looked up at the floating stone tablet Laia had left—her little note for the refugees, the one she'd written to tell them how to earn their keep.
Welcome. Please clear the fields to the west, plant grain. Remember to protect the forest, don't cut too much. We need to make sure the land doesn't get worn out.
—Laia
That was it. Just a messy, simple note, written in common script, for the refugees she thought were starving and homeless.
The twelve overlords stared at the tablet, and their eyes went wide.
"Wh-what?" Kane Voss stared at the words, his mouth dropping open. He'd been planning to throw together a ramshackle camp, but this—this was the divine decree? "She wants us to clear the fields? Plant grain? And protect the forest?"
Torin Ironvein's golden eyes lit up, the dragon's gash on his arm already healing in the realm's clean aura. "Of course! The Overgod knew we've been eating stale rations for a week! He prepared food for us! And the forest part? He knew I was worried about Corruption erosion! That's why he warned us!"
Elara Moonwhisper put a hand over her chest, breathless, her silver-gold hair glowing faintly in the realm's light. "That's... that's the divine guidance! He knew exactly what we needed, before we even asked!"
Kael Darkveil nodded, his shadowy form already steadying up, the realm's aura healing the Corruption damage he'd taken. "Of course. Overgods see everything. We just follow his decree."
"Right!" Mephis Abyssborn cracked his knuckles, the demon's broken horn already throbbing less. "Let's get to work! I'm not eating another ration bar!"
Rokar Stonefist laughed, cracking his stone fists. "Finally! I've been cooped up running for a week! Let's clear those fields!"
Borin Ironforge perked up, yanking his hammer out of nowhere—wait, no, the realm's aura had fixed the broken thing, just like that. "Right! I'll forge the plows! The tools! Done in an hour, don't you worry!"
Jax Shadowstep tucked his tail tighter under his cloak, grinning. "I'll organize the work detail! We'll have this done in no time!"
Wolfric Wildwood's wolf ears twitched. "I'll scout, hunt for game, make sure we have extra food."
Elowen Foxwhisper smiled, her amber eyes bright. "I'll set up illusions to hide the camp, make sure no one finds us."
Rhea Cloudwing nodded, her thin iridescent wings spreading. "I'll send the swarm to scout the land, make sure it's safe."
Kane was already powering up his half-broken armor, the thing fixing itself, star-tech light glowing under the metal. "I'll build automated irrigation! Planters! We'll seed the whole field in ten minutes!"
Before Laia had even left the awakening hall, the twelve overlords were already moving, working at a speed no normal refugee could ever manage.
Kane built automated planters that seeded a hundred acres in ten minutes. Torin lifted entire boulders out of the way, clearing the fields in seconds. Elara wove life magic into the dirt, turning the rough soil into the richest farmland in existence. Borin forged star-metal plows in ten minutes flat.
In less than an hour, the entire west field was cleared, planted, irrigated. The forest was protected, the land was perfect, and the camp was already half-built.
Back in the hallway, Laia was walking to her new dorm, when her realm panel pinged.
Realm size increased by 1000 acres!
Productivity increased by 10000%!
Divine rank updated: Lesser God!
Divine rank updated: Intermediate God!
Laia stopped dead in her tracks.
Wait.
What?
An hour? Her rank jumped two whole tiers? In an hour?
She stared at the panel, then at the twelve ragged refugees she'd just picked up.
Wow. Those refugees were hard workers. Way harder than she'd ever expected.
Maybe she could even afford that new Luminite crystal after all!
She was still grinning to herself when there was a sharp knock on her dorm door.
She opened it, and saw a tall man in golden armor, his face cold, his divine aura heavy enough to make the walls shake.
"Laia Hayes?" He rumbled, voice like thunder. "I am Greater God Valerius. I'm looking for a group of runaways. They came into your realm. Hand them over."
Laia blinked.
Runaways?
What runaways?
Her refugees?