Morning light hitl the Capital streets in pale gold bars.
Team Soup walked out of the hotel front doors in a loose formation. Emric had his shield strapped to his back, Renna had her bow slung over one shoulder, and Lyra walked beside Holden with her spear resting against her shoulder like she was born holding it.
Renna was already talking.
"I'm just saying, if the hotel breakfast had eggs instead of that weird powdered nonsense, I would have eaten four plates. Maybe five. My stomach is a bottomless pit of destruction now that I'm Rank 2, I swear it expanded."
"It didn't expand," Emric said. "Your metabolic rate increased due to the energy consumption of your Rank 2 core. You're burning more calories at rest. The hunger is proportional."
"So my stomach DID expand."
"Metaphorically."
"Same thing."
"It is absolutely not the same thing."
Lyra glanced at Holden. "They've been doing this since they woke up."
"Some things never change."
