"Check it out." Spike turned to the side with a smug smile on his face. On his head floated a crown much like the one they had located, shimmering and bright despite not actually existing. "How are you all doing? Bet I'm not the first."
Smolder shot an emphatic thumbs up. "You win that bet, by losing. Pretty sure I was the first one past that finish line." She drew her dagger with one hand, a meat cleaver in the other, twirling both in place. "I am now a Combat Culinarian. Anycreature foolish enough to cross paths with me will be smoked, possibly literally."
Sandra pointed past Smolder to Spike. "What is your class actually called?"
Spike raised a finger with a smug look. "Divine Lord." He emphasized each word with a twirl of that finger. "By my benevolence will you be free to pursue justice."
Smolder burst into laughter, slapping a knee. "Oh, wow, that is great, Spike. You do your thing and I'll keep our bellies filled, fair trade?"
He emphatically thrust a thumb skywards. "It is a deal, fair lady. Now, uh, Sandra?"
Sandra turned and blinked. “Yes?”
“That’s the two of us, what do you have going on? For the class to enter the tower, I mean.”
“Well…” Sandra trailed off, looking away. “I guess there’s one but… I don’t know if it’s realistic…”
Smolder flapped over to Sandra, putting her arm around Sandra, practically hanging off of her. “She got a wicked powerful class from her family. Powerful magic armor. Superpowered spells. The works. She just hasn’t unlocked it yet.”
“Oh!” Spike perked up. “That’s cool! How do you unlock it?”
Sandra smiled a broad nervous smile and looked at Smolder. “I… uh…” She said through the nervous rictus, looking at Smolder, who looked at her with just an optimistic smile. “My uh… family were very high level adventurers, so the class probably can’t be unlocked until I am a high level adventurer.”
Garble butted in. “So you don’t have anything, is what you’re saying?”
Spike turned in place. "Oh, hey Garble. What'd you get?"
"Poet--" He drew his heavy blade off his back, cleaving the air in front of himself. "Slicer."
Spike shot him two finger guns with a grin. "That sounds pretty cool."
"Better than 'divine lord', like something put you in charge." He rolled his eyes before looking to Sandra. "So, whatever. We're ready, you're not. Forget whatever that is, because we don't have time for that."
Smolder lifted her shoulders as she produced a steaming little dumpling from seemingly nowhere. "Bro's not exactly wrong per se. Getting that big one's more a long term project. For now, we just need you to get into something that's not a basic class, so we can move forward."
Sandra tapped a foot on the ground. "Like what?"
Spike landed next to Sandra, on the opposite side of Smolder. "Well, people know a lot of them, right? We're a little blind, coming into this like this, but there has to be a list, right, somewhere?"
"Well, yes." Sandra approached the window of their room, looking out at the busy street below. "The guild keeps a full list of every class ever confirmed. I'd be shocked if the ones you have aren't on that already."
“So, that means that someone knows about all the classes, right? We can find one that fits, like, a caster really well and ask around.”
Sandra frowned. “But, the three of you all got classes just by… meeting people and finding out stuff. To have to go out and ask...”
“To be fair,” Smolder said, sitting up. “I did actually ask around, and Spike just tripped over his. What is your luck stat anyway?"
Spike blinked owlishly at that. "We have one of those? How do you even check it!?"
Smolder smirked playfully, leaning back on the seat she had taken just a moment before. "I'm joking with you, but you tend to be a lucky fella, so keep on being you. I mean, outside being sucked into another world without being asked. That isn't exactly super lucky?"
Garble marched past the others. "Right, sounds like it's time for a little trip down to the den of abrasive jerks. Let's take a look at this stupid list and find something."
Spike started forward after him. "I'm not arguing with that idea, but I admit I am a little surprised."
"At what?" He looked over his shoulder with a scowl.
"Oh, um, nothin'... just I figured you'd be more... you know... upset."
"I am." He threw up one hand, the other putting his sword away easily. "But you two aren't dropping the dead weight, and arguing isn't getting us there, so let's look at this stupid list and find a stupid class already."
"Sorry." Sandra trailed out third, only to be thumped into by Smolder from behind.
"Don't look so glum. We're gonna find a class you like." She fired a thumbs up, lifting into the air and swerving around Sandra. "You summoned us to turn your adventuring around, didn't you?"
"Well, I mean, yes, but I wasn't trying to yank out living things away from what they were doing." She sheepishly smiled. "Who I need to help get home, but am holding back... Who are all better at this than me, who lives here..."
"Keep up," roared Garble from the front, throwing open the door to the street. "Let's get this over with."
Smolder flew alongside Sandra. "Hey, look. Between me, you, and Spike, I kinda like this whole adventuring thing. It's fun! Now, do I want to get home? Yes." She raised a finger with the last word. "Fun time has to have an end, but I'm not, you know, mad about getting the chance to learn freaky magic and beat up monsters. So knock that guilt chip off your shoulder and let's find an awesome class."
"What are you talking about?" Spike drifted back, floating on the opposite side of Sandra. "Girl stuff?"
"Yes, girl stuff," laughed out Smolder.
"Oh, okay." He didn't leave though, still hovering there.
Sandra peered at him as she walked, confusion clear on her face. "Most boys I know of run away when they hear girl things are being discussed."
He shrugged softly. "I've developed an immunity. Anything I can help with?"
"You just keep being you, Spike." Smolder put down a hand on Sandra's shoulders. "I was just kidding anyway. I was telling Sandra we, you know, you and me, we're not angry at Sandra."
"Uh..." He glanced away, flying along facing away from them. "I know she didn't mean to do that, but I do want to get home. This is... cool and all, but I can only imagine how freaked out Twilight must be right about now."
"S...ike!" The voice came from somewhere ahead of him and Spike blinked softly, holding up a hand to his head to try to hear the grainy and faint voice.
"What?"
"..tr.. ard... to tal... to you bu... the ...shun is bare.. ...ing up."
"Twilight?" He looked around desperately, but there was no floating portal or anything, just a voice. "Twilight! I can hear you, sorta."
"T--k Celestia." The name of their princess came through clearly, one word breaking through the static.
Spike smiled broadly even as he looked around, but the voice's direction seemed to change haphazardly, not resting in any one place. "I'm alright! We're working on a way home."
Sandra watched Spike dart and look around wildly, already out of range to hear him talking. "Is he alright? He looks like he dropped something, but I doubt he'll find it up in the sky like that."
Smolder shook her head slowly. "I am not sure, but let's keep up with Gar Gar before he loses it. Spike knows where we're going."
They left him behind, making their way towards the guild. Garble was the first one inside, tapping at the counter. "Hey."
"Ah, back again." The secretary considered Garble, looking towards his guildchain. "That looks different. Did you change classes?"
"Poet Slicer," reported Garble with pride, moving a hand to polish against his armored chest. "Our party's ready for the next step, minus one. I hear you got a list of advanced classes. We want a look at it."
"Hm?" His eyes drifted past Garble to the other two party members coming in behind him. "Sandra, is it? I must admit, for demi-hu--"
Garble slammed the counter with a balled fist. "I'm a dragon, got it? I ain't human anything."
Smolder swooped in, one hand on Garble's shoulder. "Hey, sorry for the fuss. Did he ask for that list yet?"
But the secretary was looking at Sandra, not either of the two dragons. "You really should teach them some manners."
Sandra laughed nervously. "Ha... yeah... Do you have that list, please? We'll get out of your hair."
"In the library," he sighed out. "Ask the librarian and he'll show you the way."
"Thank you." Sandra turned stiffly, the dragons trailing behind her as she made her way to the library. As the name implied, there were many books, but perhaps not as many as one would expect. Great stone slabs rest on platforms in fairly even spacing.
The woman who had summoned the dragons to begin with stood there. "Ah, Sandra, You're back, with your friends. Weren't there three?"
"The other one will catch up," she waved in the vague direction they had left Spike. "We wanted a list of all the classes you've found. If they list how people got them, that would be good too."
The old librarian raised a hand and the platform closest to Sandra began to glow. "Go on and have a look. That isn't confidential information."
"Thank you." Sandra put her hands on the platform and a book appeared, more of a hologram, opening up to a great list. "Wow, you have that memorized?" She leaned forward to look it over. "Purchased, found, found... Taken from an elder wyrm?! That must have been a story..."
Smolder floated closer to the librarian. "Hey, what about Combat Culinarian, Divine Lord, or Poet Slicer?"
"One of them is right here." Sandra inclined her head towards where 'Divine Lord' was written.
Divine Lord -- Uncommon -- Unlocked through acquisition of magic item, see subnote
"Uncommon, nice." She nodded softly. "Maybe I should just buy one of the ones they sell." As if controlled by her thought, the order of the list shifted to list the ones for sale at the top. "There's a rare one for sale? If it's for sale, how can it be rare?"
Garble lifted his shoulders. "If they want all the money in the world, it's still pretty rare."
Sandra looked to the price just to look away just as quickly, her skin paling a little. "Got that in one! Did... either of you pay for yours?"
Smolder hiked a thumb at herself. "I asked, and I made a friend, then I learned how to do it while helping out."
Garble snorted a small puff of smoke. "I saw what I wanted and reached for it. Bastard made me work, but I didn't give up."
"What about..." Sandra trailed off, realizing Spike still wasn't there. "Well, I need to pick one..."
Smolder smirked faintly. "Pick one you want and let's get it. You'll rock it, whether we buy it or whatever. It doesn't matter so long as you give it your all." She thrust a finger at Sandra. "It's time for you to take a step forward. We can't make you."
"Yeah... But--"
"You're about to say something about not being 'ready' or 'worthy' aren't you?" Smolder crossed her arms. "Denied. You pick a cool class and get moving. You'll make yourself ready and worth it. You think I knew how to cook worth a damn when I started?" She flicked out her butcher knife, twirling it in the air. "Not a clue, but I kept at it. Time for you to decide. You're going to make this work, or give up. I know you can do it, but that doesn't mean a thing until you do."