A secret realm changed everything about the situation.

These were special locations scattered throughout the Astral Heaven, hidden pockets that presented trials to any class holder who stumbled across them.

Clear the trial, claim the rewards. But beyond the rewards, secret realms carried something equally valuable: a natural concealment effect that made them invisible to monsters or class holders that hadn’t already found them.

You could only locate one by accident or by knowing exactly where to look.

Whoever had found it had turned that property into a survival strategy.

The secret realm sat close to the beacon, its concealment effect shielding the base from every Tier Two monster roaming the mountain range.

As long as the effect held, the Base was invisible. A pocket of stability in a gate that had been trying to kill everyone inside it since day one.

"So why are you out here instead of inside it?" Winston asked.

Josh’s expression tightened slightly.

"The trial was already cleared when we found it. Secret realms only maintain their hidden effect for a limited time after the trial ends. We’ve been sending teams out to collect energy stones since they can be used to sustain the effect artificially and buy us more time."

Winston nodded. Tier One monsters still roamed the lower sections of the mountain range, which meant energy stone collection was dangerous but not impossible.

It was a reasonable solution under the circumstances. Risky, but workable.

He turned to Carly.

"That’s what you need help with. Collecting energy stones?."

She nodded without hesitating.

"I don’t see a problem with that," Winston said. He looked back at Josh. "Do you have a way to contact the other teams that went out?"

"Yes."

"Then tell them to head back to base now." Winston glanced toward the mountain range ahead, reading the pull of the beacon.

"The exit is going to be opened soon. There’s no point running collection runs if we’re leaving."

The four of them went quiet at Winston’s declaration and he could see it on their faces, the flicker of hope, immediately chased by doubt.

With the strength Winston had just displayed, the idea of him taking on the guardian wasn’t completely unreasonable.

But they knew something he didn’t yet, and Josh was the one who said it.

"This region is actually Tier Three." Josh’s voice was flat and even, like he’d already processed the horror of it and come out the other side numb.

"The area around the beacon is filled with Level 46 monsters and above. That’s why we’re running energy stone collections. Staying inside the secret realm is the only viable option until the Association figures out how to send help."

Winston looked at them for a moment.

Then he shook his head.

"That won’t be a problem. Tell the teams to head back, I have enough energy stones. They don’t need to keep running collections."

Josh studied Winston’s face, searching for the part where this was overconfidence talking.

He didn’t seem to find it. He reached into his bag and pulled out a small device. It was a Level 3 permanent spell meant for long-range communication, the standard solution since Earth technology went dead the moment you crossed into the Astral Heaven.

He activated it and sent the recall message to every team still out in the mountain range.

The responses came through one by one. Skeptical pauses before each confirmation, but no pushback.

Most of them had been looking for a reason to stop being outside. Josh had just given them one.

He lowered the device.

"Done. They’re heading back."

"Good." Winston glanced toward the mountain range.

"Take us to the base."

Josh nodded and led them forward. Winston stopped just long enough to pull the energy stone from the Rock Golem’s rubble, dropped it into his bag, and fell in behind the group with Freya beside him.

Josh led them along a specific path through the mountain range; it was not a straight line, but a deliberate weave between rock formations and natural cover.

Three days of surviving in this region had taught them exactly where the patrol patterns were and which routes stayed clean from monsters. Winston noted it without commenting.

Then the four of them simply vanished.

One step they were there, the next the space ahead was empty.

Winston glanced at Freya and she looked back at him before they faced front, walking forward together as the world shifted without warning, the mountain path dissolving and replacing itself with the interior of a large cave in the space of a single step.

The secret realm’s entrance. The transfer was seamless and disorienting in equal measure.

As for the cave it was substantial with a high ceiling and wide floor, lit by a pale ambient glow that had no obvious source.

People were spread throughout the space in clusters, sitting, resting, tending to minor injuries.

More were arriving through other points along the cave walls, filtering in from what were clearly multiple entrances. The recall message had worked. Every team was coming back.

Winston turned to Josh.

"What’s the hold up?"

Josh’s expression shifted to something slightly awkward.

"It seems the supervisor in charge is holding everyone at the entrance points. Because of the message I sent out, everyone is returning at once without warning. He wants to know what’s happening."

"Where is Josh?" The voice cut through the cave from somewhere ahead, sharp and carrying authority.

Josh raised his hand and stepped forward. "I’m here."

Winston’s gaze followed him around a cluster of students and got his first clear look at who this supervisor was.

His eyes narrowed.

’Mark?’

Mark. Of all the people to be a supervisor.

Winston hadn’t expected it, but thinking it through, it made sense. Most of the students who had crossed the gate had landed in the mountain range.

Mark being among them wasn’t surprising. And if Mark was here, there was a reasonable chance Zelda was too. Winston hadn’t seen her in three days, she had to have ended up somewhere, and this base was the most logical answer.

He pushed the thought down for now. Same move he’d been practicing since day one, file it away and deal with what’s in front of you first.

Mark’s attention was fully on Josh, his expression carrying the particular edge of someone who had been managing a difficult situation and didn’t appreciate surprises.

"So, Josh." Mark’s voice was even but pointed. "You sent a message saying you’d gathered enough energy stones and recalled every team. Where are they? Because your bag doesn’t look full enough to justify pulling everyone back at once."

Josh opened his mouth.

"That’s because I have them."

Winston stepped forward before Josh could answer, and every head in the vicinity turned. He held up his bag — the energy stones from everything collected across three days of clearing the forest region stacked together in one place.

At the back of the gathered crowd, Mark’s fox like eyes went wide.

Then they narrowed.