The blessing windows hovered above the table, each glow promising a different way to push the party forward. They needed every push they could get. Half the team still wasn't close to level 20, and only NukEncore and Kill Clause had reached the level thirteen range, mostly because their last boss fight had drowned them in waves of armored goblins.
The private room at Samu's Restaurant kept most of the noise downstairs away, but not all of it. Cheers, groans, and excited voices still rose through the floorboards whenever another party checked the weekly rankings. The whole academy seemed awake now, stirred by the same rewards and the same fear of falling behind.
Above Martin's table, five system windows floated in quiet gold. Each one belonged to a different person, but together they made the room feel brighter than the lamps on the wall.
