Sandra worried her fingers as she wandered down the road. The rest of her party… "Off training…" Spike seemed certain. Garble hurried off to whatever he was doing without a word, and Smolder had reported she would be busy too. Everyone was advancing.

"Except me…" She had started the group at the top, knowing the most of the world and of the highest skill level, but that had so quickly reversed itself. She was the one human in the party, and was doing the worst of them all. It was laughable. She felt certain the others were already mocking her right that moment, how a party of demi-humans were dragging her along helplessly.

"That's not right…" She punched one fist into the other. "They're not just… that." Was it that demi-humans were better than she had thought, or that they were more than demi-humans? She wasn't sure, and thinking about it was making her head hurt more. She knew they could do almost anything. Nothing seemed to stand in their way for long. "I don't want to be the weight holding them back…"

She grabbed the handle of a door and threw it open with frightful strength, her eyes flaring with strange hues in that instant before it banged loudly against the wall. "Sorry," she squeaked, quietly berating herself for her lack of control. "Just like then…"

"Like when, exactly?" asked a new male voice within the guild, seated at a table with a cup of tea. It was the reedy-voiced fencer of the group that had mocked her.

Sandra scowled at him. "Come to make fun of me, Tomás? Well it won't work!"

"Nah." He gestured at the opposing chair at the small table he was at. "You look like you have enough on your head. Share?"

She peered at him with growing confusion. "You… just want to talk?"

"That's what adventurers do sometimes." Tomás shrugged softly. "We're both those, right?"

"Well… sure…" She sank onto the offered chair. "But you're usually making fun of me."

"I was just ribbing you, hoping you'd rise to the bait and stop waffling around." He lifted his shoulders before sipping his tea. "I hear your new party's really shaping up in a hurry.” He looked at her over his tea. “But you don’t look like you’re riding high on having a successful new party.”

Sandra sank further into the chair, as if her displeasure was more failure on her part. “Not really,” she mumbled quietly.

He set down his glass. “Right, obviously, so why is that?”

Sandra squirmed. “It’s not important…”

“Sure it is.” Tomás folded his fingers and rested his head on them, smiling. “How could I ignore someone in distress?”

Sandra bit her lips. “I just… don’t feel like I’m doing well, compared to the others.”

Tomás rolled his fingers, as if to say go on.

“Well… all of them have their own plans for their secondary classes, and all of them are working toward it or figuring them out. But--” she looked down, avoiding Tomas’s gaze, brushing her hair. “-- I don’t have one in the works. I don’t have any idea what to do.” She sighed, returning her gaze to his. “It’s just like with Tabitha, you know?”

He shook his head. “I don’t.”

Sandra blinked. “You… don’t? But you--”

“She always kept it close to her.” He shrugged, looking up. “I think she told Marina, I only know the basics. What happened?”

Sandra frowned. “What’s there to tell she hasn’t? I’m not suited for adventuring.” She scowled. “I have good magic power but can’t aim. I’m not suited to figuring out puzzles. I don’t want to keep going late nights or work harder, I just wanna give up.” She sighed. “I’m not gonna change my class, but maybe Tabitha’s right and I should.”

"Well, yes you are." He lifted his shoulders. "Eventually you'll get a secondary class, a better one, and you'll want to switch to that. Tell me if I'm swinging in the wrong direction here."

"No," she sighed out in a gust. "No… It's just…" She worried her fingers together, glancing around. "Seriously, why are we having this talk?"

"You want to wait for your buds? They're busy moving forward. That has to sting a little, summoning adventurers that are racing ahead of you like that." He leaned forward, chin coming down on his clasped hands. "I would be annoyed.”

“Well, I mean, I’m not,” Sandra snapped, slamming a hand on the table. “But that doesn’t mean I’m happy, alright?”

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“It sounds like it’s you’re just losing the plot, you know?” He shrugged, apparently not noticing Sandra’s outburst. “It sounds like me you just gotta muster some willpower, ya know?”

Sandra’s heart skipped at the word ‘willpower.’

Tomás continued unabated. “You know, just nose to the grindstone.”

“Well, I can’t!” Sandra shouted, standing up. Now people were staring. “If I could, I would have with Tabitha, and she wouldn’t have left. I’ve been at this as long as she has, did she tell you that?”

“Uh…” Tomás was taken aback. “Yes, she’s said tha--”

“So even with this party of summoned people, I’m still behind! And I’m still the worst in my party. I’m not gonna summon my will anytime soon. If I could, I wouldn’t be behind. And if I could maybe then--” Her voice hitched suddenly.

“Maybe… then what?” Tomás got up slowly. “Tabitha said you have like a hangup on advanced classes and it’s what’s making you stubborn, but that she didn’t know--”

“I thought she didn’t say much to you.” Sandra’s voice was icy.

Tomás chuckled, backing up a little. “I mean, obviously she said something. I wouldn’t just join in on umm… picking at you without knowing anything, right?”

“Why are you here?!” Sandra shouted.

“What! I told you,” Tomás said. “I’m just taking an interest.”

“Screw you!” Sandra twisted around and stomped away. Once she got far enough away, and checked to make sure nobody was watching, she collapsed against the wall, sliding down to her feet as she breathed heavily.

She could feel their eyes, all of her guildmates, as if every single one of them had been there, watching her have her tantrum. She thumped a hand on the ground in an impotent fist, her face becoming wet with a line of tears. "This isn't what you wanted…"

"Tough day, huh?"

Sandra's head snapped up, ready for another attacker, but it was a friend instead. Smolder landed lightly, with a plain white apron on her body. "I was just taking lunch and I saw you dart off in here looking bad."

"You… are getting things done." She couldn't help but peer at little. What was Smolder getting done that required an apron? "Going well?"

"I'm fine." She waved it off as if it were nothing, pulling off her apron unusually quickly and stuffing it away, her cheeks warming. "You saw nothing. Now, what's really up?" She twirled one finger, aimed at Sandra. "You're in an alleyway, kinda sobbing. That isn't normal."

Sandra's teeth set, glaring at Smolder as if a withering enough look could cause the dragon to vanish. Smolder was not so easily dissuaded. "Yeah… no. Try actual words. Seriously, as messed up as this whole thing is, we're a team, right? So tell me what's bothering you so much."

Sandra folded her arms. “Nothing. I met another one of Tabitha’s party, and he gave me a hard time.”

Smolder raised an eyebrow. “He was picking on you?”

“I... “ Sandra frowned. “Well… he didn’t pick on me. He was just… talking to me about my, you know, what you all are doing right now."

"What are we doing?" She crossed her arms. "So far I know, we're just trying to get into that tower, so we can get to the top."

"Yes, that. Exactly that." Sandra pushed off the ground to her feet in a scramble. "Do you know how long I've been trying to get myself together?"

Smolder looked Sandra up and down. Far from any expert on human biology, she lifted her shoulders. "Uh… ten years?"

Sandra's face lit up. "Not that long!" She punched at Smolder, but Smolder easily stepped aside. Off-balance, she almost fell over, but Smolder caught the tipping elemancer in her arms.

"That was fun, but if you want to spar, there are better places for it." Smolder gently set her upright. "And I suggest using magic, because I have a bit of an advantage in a straight up brawl."

"The magic I suck at aiming?!" she blurted out, face still a dark red, tears starting to flow fresh. "Or maybe the magic that could hurt anyone, friend or foe?"

"Hate to ask…" She rolled a clawed hand slowly. "But have you tried a physical class or two, just in case it works out?"

"No! No…" Sandra took a slow shuddering breath as she drew out her magic rod, holding it ahead of herself. "I always wanted to be a great spellcaster. My… parents told me I could do it, to follow that dream. It's the last bit of advice they gave… Second to last."

"Second… to last?" Smolder hiked a brow at that. "So… Where are they now then?"

"Where people go when you never see them again," bitterly retorted Sandra as she turned away. "They aren't coming back… unless I got to the top of that tower and used my wish on it." She threw up a hand, rod with it. "Which I can't do, because you three have dibs on that wish even if we make it up there, which we won't, because I'm weighing the team down like a big fat loser!"

"You aren't fat." Smolder shrugged as she stepped closer. "Garble's bigger than you. And the way I see it, you've been getting better."

"You're just saying that." She remained facing away into the alley, arms folded.

"Nah." She reached out a hand, grabbing Sandra by the shoulder. "I don't owe you a thing. If you were still just as awful as before, I'd tell it to your face. It's a dragon thing." She rolled her eyes. "Alright, maybe not a Spike thing, but most dragons, prepare for blunt truth more often than not. You are getting better."

Sandra brushed away the hand, or tried. Smolder's grip was far more sure than she expected. "Lemme go!"

"Mmm, nah. Lucky you, you made a dragon a friend, and we're stubborn things. Now I want to hear about those dreams of yours, because this has gone on long enough. We're preparing for that big trip, and you're coming with us. I think you want to do this, so we can start there. Is this something you want or not?"

"So you're mugging me for my past?"

"Yep." Smolder leaned in with a smirk. "Give up your dark and brooding past or suffer the consequences."

Sandra choked out a single hollow laugh. "Oh no… not that… Look… Look." She turned around, drawing Smolder's claw with the motion, but Smolder wasn't letting go. "You don't need to hear about me."

"That's my decision." She poked Sandra with her free hand. "Now be good and it could work the other way around. I have something nice for good elemancers who start talking."

"What if I'm not a good elemancer?" Sandra returned the poke, though her nails were no match for a dragon's claw for poking power.

"Then we would have already gotten beaten up. You've been doing your part, so cut it out and start talking. Since you've resisted so far, we begin, stage one."

"Stage o--" She didn't get to finish her statement, squeaking and bursting into laughter as Smolder began to tickle her wildly with both hands. The two collapsed, Sandra falling back and Smolder pursuing her with a wide grin.