The situation was clear and waiting for outside help wasn’t a real option.

Even if the Association eventually noticed something was wrong with the gate, the response wouldn’t be fast.

Piecing together that a false gate had passed the one-hour test would take time. Then deciding on a course of action would take more.

And even if they moved quickly, they could only send Rank One initiates through, since the gate’s restriction wouldn’t allow anything higher.

Getting a higher ranked class holder into the same region would require locating it within the Astral Heaven first, a task that demanded resources and time that couldn’t be pulled together quickly.

They were on their own. That was the reality.

"So what do you think about teaming up?" Freya said. "We can push our mastery as fast as possible and give ourselves the best shot at handling whatever this gate actually is."

Winston didn’t answer immediately. He turned it over. He had been moving efficiently on his own.

Adding another person changed the math in ways that weren’t always positive.

But he wanted to check something first.

Monsters displayed their level automatically. Class holders didn’t. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

A holder’s rank stayed hidden unless they released their energy intentionally or told you outright but Winston believed he had a way around that.

Winston’s Trait was Soul and it was an Abstract Trait, and traits under this category represented the intangible forces that governed how the world functioned rather than what it was made of or what lived in it.

And like all Traits, it shaped more than just his class. It gave him characteristics that extended beyond combat.

He connected with it quietly and let his vision shift.

The world changed and he could see through Freya and stare directly at her soul. It sat inside her like a contained force, steady and dense, radiating an intensity that rivaled a star.

Winston read it quickly and the intentions were clean.

But it was the intensity that told him what he needed to know.

’Sacred class. Has to be.’

Only a Sacred awakening could produce a soul that bright and that contained at the same time. He was certain of it.

Then, almost out of curiosity, he turned the same sight on himself but pulled back almost immediately.

His own soul wasn’t bright. It was a blinding pure white illumination, so radiant that he couldn’t distinguish any shape or boundary within it and all he could see was an overwhelming light that was unreadable, even to himself.

He cut the connection before it could do anything to his eyes, before turning back to Freya, who was still watching him with patient, waiting eyes.

"I don’t think it’s a bad idea."

The plan came together quickly.

Build Mastery as fast as possible. Then push for the beacon with enough strength to handle whatever the false gate had waiting near it.

Simple in concept, harder in execution, but neither of them was in a position to afford anything more elaborate.

"With two Sacred class holders, I don’t think it’s impossible," Freya said with quiet confidence.

Winston nodded. He didn’t correct her on the grade of his class; he didn’t see the point either.

After all, before they moved out, they had shared enough about their classes to build a working battle plan.

Not everything, just what the other needed to know to fight effectively alongside them. Winston understood that boundary and respected it.

He was certain Freya felt the same.

Freya had awakened the [Demonic Fox Swordsman].

Her First Realization delivered a significant boost across strength, senses, and agility simultaneously, and it enhanced any sword-related spell she carried on top of that.

Winston took that in without showing how impressed he was.

A Realization that sharpened both the holder and their spells at the same time was exactly the kind of compounding advantage that made Sacred classes dangerous from day one.

He shared his side in return, revealing how his class allowed him to boost spells and had a healing function built in.

Both statements were true. Neither came close to capturing the actual depth of what Soul Emperor could do, but that was intentional.

Freya’s questions from watching the Grey Tusk fight were answered well enough to satisfy her. She didn’t push for more detail, and Winston didn’t offer any.

That was a good sign. She understood the same rule he did.

With the basics established, Winston took the energy stone from the grey tusk before they turned away from the flattened clearing and headed back into the forest.

They didn’t have to go far before the next encounter found them.

Through the trees ahead, there was a lot of movement. Winston and Freya slowed simultaneously, reading the same signal, and settled into a quiet observation position behind the undergrowth.

What spread out in the clearing ahead wasn’t a random patrol, it was a small settlement.

Crude structures, clustered bodies and the low chittering sound of creatures at rest.

[Kobolds — Level 6]

Thirty of them. Nearly six times the group Winston had handled earlier, and three levels higher across the board.

A different category of threat compared to the Level 3s he had cut through on his own.

"I’ll take eighteen," Winston said quietly. "You handle the remaining twelve."

Freya glanced at the settlement, counted, and nodded, she could handle that much.

Winston downed his remaining five energy potions before they moved, his energy was dry after the Grey Tusk fight, but Freya had handed him five Level 10 recovery vials from her own stock without being asked.

One vial alone could restore his energy to full. The upgrade in potion quality was immediately noticeable, and it gave him a margin he hadn’t had before. Teaming up was already paying off.

『IGNITE』

He burned a soul into the Energy Coating and felt the spell surge to Level 10 as the kinetic film wrapped tight around the equally boosted gladius.

Then they broke from cover.

The Kobolds spotted them instantly but it didn’t matter.

Three rushed Winston from the front. He swung once and all three dropped simultaneously.

[0.3 Mastery Gained]

[3 Souls Gained]

He didn’t slow down. Winston drove through the settlement in a controlled sweep, cutting off escape routes, forcing clusters together and working through his eighteen targets in under a minute.

When he turned around, Freya was finishing her last one.

He almost stopped moving entirely at what he saw.

Two white fox ears had grown through her hair. A white tail swept behind her and her violet eyes had shifted, becoming brighter, more focused and predatory in a way they hadn’t been before.

The Demonic Fox Swordsman’s Realization wasn’t just a stat boost. It physically transformed her, sharpening every sense and reflex into something that wasn’t entirely human anymore.

The moment her blade took the final Kobold’s head, the ears and tail faded as she let the transformation drop to conserve stamina.

She looked at Winston’s pile of kills and gave a single nod.

After that they harvested the energy stones from the bodies without discussion and moved on.

[Mastery: 7.55] [0%]

[Slot: 4/5]

[Souls: 24]