"Keep doin' what we were doing', got it." Garble stepped towards the stairs, movement confident. "You didn't need to tell me to do that."
Spike waved at the voice of his sister and friend. "We'll keep going. We… uh, mostly have this under control!"
Sandra hesitated, peering at the point in space. "I… have so many questions… Oh! Next time listen first, make sure we're not in a fight before you suddenly pipe up… other than that, hope to talk to you again?"
"A pleasure meeting you too," spoke Twilight in a kindly tone. "Smolder?"
"I have to get going. Garble's not slowing down."
"I know, just look out for him, alright? You'll get extra credit for this friendship assignment."
Smolder burst into laughter as she started in a hurried jog after Garble. "Looking forward to getting back to class, after we show this tower's what's what."
As a group, they left the voice of Twilight behind, ascending further up the tower. The next floor promised no puzzles, and no bosses. There were monsters, plenty of them. Much like the first floor, they came in numbers without end. Much like the first, it stood as a test of their ability, a measuring stick.
Unfortunately, it was quickly proving to be one they could not stand up to. Garble swatted a ghostly figure aside, but another took its place with barely a pause. "Can't we just… run past them?"
Spike thrust his hand, green power gathering and lancing out in a ball that knocked another into mist, but afforded no mercy. "We're not putting them down fast enough, and I can't drain these." The wraiths had proven rapidly to not only be immune to being drained, but turn it around, causing Spike's spell to feed them instead of taking from them.
A blanket of fire washed over them, causing the wraiths to moan in pain, but it wasn't enough to actually banish them. "I don't have the power!" squeaked Sandra, though she kept trying.
“This can’t stop us!” Garble shouted, raising his sword. “I’ll do the big one!” He hopped back out of the range of a ghost’s hand reaching for him, and he brought the sword down, two electric snaps being heard. “Thunder,” snap snap. “Rolling onward.” He twisted and dodged to the right, cleaving two ghosts, driving them back but not destroying them. “Pressing me, ever strongward.”
“Strongward?” Spike said, dodging an attack. “That’s not a--”
“Cleaving my foes,” Garble said, louder this time. “That halt my advance.” His sword began to spark. “This isn’t a fight I’m leaving to chance!” He spun around, slashing an electrified crescent into the mass of spirits. It had a much bigger impact, as several spirits were scattered. “Ha! That’s right!”
The group of spirits already began to crowd back in, and Garble dove in, slicing as he did. “Let’s go!”
Spike grit his teeth, as he watched the spirits strike at Garble. “Dangit,” he muttered, tossing a heal out.
Smolder ran up to the rear, cutting at a spirit closing in behind Garble, quick rapid slices reducing the spirit to ephemeral fluff.
“Wait!” Sandra called out. The two of them were barely further than before. “Don’t go in the crowd we won’t be able to get to you!”
Soon, more spirits closed in behind them.
"Hey, Bro. Good job and all, but I think we just need an upgrade."
"Up--" He was in the middle of a swing, clearing out several spirits with a wide arc, but there was barely a moment to breathe. "--grade? Whattaya mean?"
"We got all--" She ducked under the reaching hands of several of them, jabbing and slicing. Little bonfires appeared where her skills could find something worth cooking. "--that material. This fight'll be easy after that."
Spike exploded in a pulse of power, buying them a brief moment of respite. "No arguments here."
"Not a one!" agreed Sandra with a bit of a panicked edge in her voice.
"Yeah..." Garble struck the ground, the shockwave clearing a small path, even if it was already closing. "I hate havin' to climb back up though."
Spike blocked several ghostly hands with a glowing shield, struggling to keep them back. "Maybe we'll run into that genie and you'll get another chance."
"Ha! Free stuff." Garble suddenly looked happier about the possibilities. "Alright, let's go."
With consent secured for the entire team, they began to glow with the power of recall magic. But recalling wasn't fast, and their movement was slowed by it. "Recalling in a fight is always risky," warned Sandra. "Turtle up!" Her eyes opened with flaming heat, aiden passing into her flesh as she took up their power. "Get back!"
Smolder jumped to snatch one of the flames she had left behind. "Ghost treat, no thinking, more eating."
Sandra accepted the gift, popping it into her mouth. It tasted of grave dirt and old whispers, which weren't really tastes, but were the impression she received none-the-less. Still, it was the right flavor, binding her to the spirit already inhabiting her. With a sudden cry, flames erupted around them in a great defensive shell.
It didn't stop them from coming, but only some could survive the trip through the flames to harass them, buying them some blessed space. Spike smashed one across the head with his staff as a bright glow followed, his life magic discorporating the larger ghost that had survived the trick. "Whatever you did, keep that up!"
Something sharp danced just in front of Spike's face, Smolder catching a spectre at the last instant, ghostly fog trailing her victorious blade. "The fight's not over."
A loud male shout drew their gazes to see Garble charging. It would have been much more of a sight if he wasn't slowed by at least half by the recalling magic, seeming to be taking more of what looked like a dramatic walk instead of a proper run, his blade clenched firmly in his hands. Ghosts were darting out of the way of the valiant attack, raking at him as he went past.
Spike's form echoes the cuts, gaining them as small mirrors even as he raised his staff to undo the harm. "Smolder?"
"On it." She was slowed, but even a slowed Smolder was a reasonably speedy Smolder, darting towards Garble at what would have been a light jog in speed to slice away at the ghosts that plagued her brother. "Is it almost--"
They all appeared before the level 10 pillar. "--done?" Smolder lowered her blades, a smirk on her face. "Nevermind."
Sandra let out a gust of flaming breath, Aiden gathering itself from the heat as its power left Sandra. She flopped back against a wall, panting. "Good... job." The bird let out a little coo before vanishing in a crackling ball of flame.
Spike blinked softly. "Huh, now we've all breathed fire."
Garble slung his sword on his back. "Finally, now you're a proper teammate."
Smolder clapped in approval as she looked around. "Alright, one more hop back to the bottom and let's do a quick bit of shopping with Tammy."
With soft noises of approval, they began to glow. Outside of combat, the teleporting was much easier and soon they were just in front of the tower.
"Forced to retreat? Figures." A familiar taunting female voice called. "We're already pushing ahead, you better speed it up." She laughed even as her team-mates were casually nudging her along, not allowing another fight to develop.
Sandra rolled her eyes. "Whatever, just... whatever. She's not... important." She pointed towards Tammy's. "Let's gear up and get back in there. We'll wipe that stupid smile off her face by doing what we came to do."
Garble slapped her firmly on the shoulder as he started going. "That's the spirit. Let's make them feel like weak little idiots, which they are."
"The fencer guy seemed alright," argued Spike with a shrug. "Still, yeah, let's get going."
Tammy shook her head slowly. "These are great bits of gear, really. Best I ever saw!" She gestured at the furnace behind her. "But I can only do so much with it. I blame the tower. It has rules. The amount of raw… stuff I can get out of it is limited by your level. So, yes, I can totally upgrade your stuff, but not--"
Garble slapped his hands together, punching an open palm. "But not as good as that jerk made it in the first place."
"Exactly." Tammy looked pleased that what she was saying had been understood. "Still, compared to overleveled stuff you couldn't wear, a huge improvement! Shall I get to work?"
Smolder lifted her shoulders. "Figures. Stupid tower's gotta gloat over us whenever it can." She reached for Garble's shoulder. "Let's take what we can get and use it to smash that tower in the face."
The party grumbled at the decrease in what they had envisioned as a huge leap up in equipment. "Still, an upgrade is an upgrade," argued Spike. "Please, go ahead."
"I am all over this!" Tammy soon had the flames roaring and was busily at work reshaping magic itself to fabricate new gear for the team.
"I should take this." Tammy was casually gathering their weapons. "This too."
But Garble was dancing away from the smith, denying her access to his sword. "No way! I like this one."
"But I'm going to make a better sword," she argued with a huff. "Don't go getting attached to weaker ones."
"It's mine." He crossed his arms over his large chest. "I like the way it looks. I like how it swings."
"Fine fine." She shrugged, palms up. "I'll transfer its appearance to the new one if you really like it that much."
"Wait, you can do that?" echoed three of the party members.
Sandra was the only that didn't. "You didn't know that?"
Spike pointed towards her. "You didn't tell us! Why would we know? We're kinda new to this world and all."
Tammy casually slipped the sword away from the distracted Garble. "Now that we have that settled, in you go." She casually tossed all the weapons into her furnace. "The higher level equipment looks better anyway. You'll love it! But I can make it look like your old stuff if you really want."
Garble huffed, looking towards the others as Tammy whooped and worked with obvious joy. "Ever get the feeling she enjoys this a bit much?"
Spike shrugged a bit. "Would you rather our smith not like their job? Look at her, she's so happy."
Tammy was wrenching down a lever, causing fire to rage upwards as she cackled with obvious glee, caught in the rapturous throes of creation.
Smolder hiked a brow at it. "Would that I get that happy someday about what I do."
Spike pulled at his armored shirt. "Kinda surprised she didn't take--"
Tammy grabbed him by the shoulder and casually de-shirted him with a little whistle. "Thanks for reminding me!"
Sandra colored instantly, fleeing from the room lest she be stripped next. "Hey, wait," called Tammy. "C'mon! Don't be a baby!" And off she went, chasing Sandra down.
Smolder began to casually strip out of her getup, enjoying her draconian superiority in the lack of a nudity taboo. "She's making us new everything, makes sense." She folded it in a neat little pile. "There we go."
Garble tossed his stuff towards her pile, knocking her pile over as he just cluttered the place. "What? She's just gonna toss it in the fire. Why fold it?"
Spike worked off his pants. "He has a point there." He kicked off his shoes and pants to join the rest. "Huh, haven't been this unequipped in a while. It feels weird."
"See, that wasn't so bad." Tammy was returning, triumphantly holding the rest of Sandra's gear. "Your robe's really nice though. I'll probably keep its looks. Really matches that fire bird of yours."
Garble waved at her with a scowl. "See?! Sometimes you have to fit the mood. Keeping my sword..."