Royse spend another several seconds breaking herself out of the cultivation loop before responding. She took another moment to assess her progress. Her core, a new addition, still seemed small and flimsy in her mind's eye. Perhaps slightly less so than it was this morning, though. Slow and steady progress was the key.

"Yeah, I could eat."

She stretched, more out of habit then out of need, then stood up and spent a few seconds dusting snow off of her pants.

"God, my clothes are gonna be soaked."