"It is our true goal," Rosamund states with uncharacteristic iciness. "If you wish to attempt to kill us for that, go right ahead. But you are a fool to assume you are the only warrior here."
As she says this, the light in her palms flares out, forming another barrier that attempts to intercept the spider's movements.
Hail majestic corporate light, heaven born and ever bright!The spider attempts to strike Rosamund with its front legs, but her barrier blocks it.
Kevan succeeds in stabbing the spider in the eye. The spider lets out an anguished roar.
"Good job!" says Melvin.
The spider starts thrashing at the cobwebs in the swamp with its legs. It starts tearing down the cobwebs. Suddenly, the group can see further into the swamp, where there is a huge, rickety, black tower surrounded by fog.
The spider starts running towards the tower.
Very good kittyThe bird-creature awkwardly skids to a halt, tilting its head in reaction to the spiders change of course.
Welcome To Ideals' World"Huh... And here I thoughts those... strange walls of light were useless. I guess they are of use if you can't fly." Kevan remarked at Rosamund's magical barrier.
Before Kevan could try to finish off the spider, it fled towards a black tower. Kevan flew a bit higher and caught a glimpse of it.
"The beast is fleeing toward the tower! After it! I will help you with getting to the top of that fortress. But if you're really here in the service of a human king and waste that crystal bat for humans... I think it will be better off in my possession. I could sell it for better weapons... humans are becoming craftier and craftier every night..." Kevan said. It will be difficult to convince him of the team's good intentions.
The dragon-like creature turned to Jacoby and grunted.
"Swampman! You seem to be the strongest of your team. You and the werewolf witch watch over your flanks. It is still foggy, and there is more than one spider roaming around. I will go ahead." Kevan said, leading the group and following the spider.
AND I'VE STILL BLOCKED OFF MY BALL!! FUCK!!(Jacoby swallows nervously upon hearing Kevan direct him (along with Rosamund) to keep an eye out for more spiders after the first one flees.)
Y-Y-Yeah, that's...letting everyone know that there's another spider's coming is going to be easy for me... (Jacoby stammers.) I'm probably gonna end up screaming at the sight and that's what's gonna let 'em know one's coming...
C'mon, Jackie, don't panic. If you catch one coming, just take a deep breath and calmly warn us. (Elisa says.)
"Hey, least I didn't lose all my artistic talent when I crash landed in the arena here."The bird-creature mutters in mimicry to itself. It doesn't really trust that mean dragon that's wearing a human skull as an accessory, but it's too worried about losing contact with its other new friends to voice anything about it.
Welcome To Ideals' World"Do NOT give me commands," Rosamund snarls at Kevan. With every word that comes out of his mouth, she feels her disdain for this hateful, arrogant lizard-creature grow ever more intense. She assumes a guard position at the back of the party anyway, but fixes Kevan with a steely glare that wordlessly communicates, no, this is not something I am doing for your benefit.
Hail majestic corporate light, heaven born and ever bright!The group approaches the tower. They are about fifty feet from the entrance, a drawbridge which is currently closed.
Despite leaking green blood from its face, the spider has already climbed to the top of the tower. The group can see a strange shadow inside the window at the top. The spider and the shadow make strange chattering sounds, like they're conversing in some sort of spider language. Then the shadow opens the window, and the spider crawls in.
The shadowy figure closes the window and looks down at the group with bright, glowing red eyes.
Heh heh heh heh... a raspy voice chuckles with a loud echo.
The shadowy figure turns away from the window. Suddenly, the drawbridge is lowered. The tower is open.
Very good kitty"Or what? Are you going to summon your useless walls again? Oh, I am so so scared." Kevan said to Rosamund dramatically putting his claws on his head as if he was dying while waving his wings. Frankly, if it weren't for the other monsters, he would have gladly tried to teach her a lesson.
The young warrior spotted the spider getting inside the tower with remarkable speed, where a mysterious figure allowed it to enter.
The dragon almost felt like just flying over there, bursting through the window, taking the rumored crystal bat, and leaving like a rogue, especially, with Rosamund and Senki around. Fortunately, the jerkish dragon wasn't too much of a jerk to fully consider the option. He said he was going to stay to help the strange party, he was going to do it. As if to incite him to stay with the others, the drawbridge was lowered.
"How odd... This must be a trap. Fishman, stay on your guard. We don't know, something can be crawling near the drawbridge or just behind the door... Fishman?"
Kevan stopped in his track upon seeing Jacoby still shivering in fear, much to his confusion and frustration.
"KEEH!! Frankly, you should be thankful that I am here to cover your useless butts! If I wasn't, that spider would have already captured you to do whatever spiders do on dead bodies! Well, except your ugly human "friend", obviously." he complained.
As he carefully walked towards the main door and prepared to open it, ready to swing his sword at whatever was waiting for them, Kevan glanced at Melvin and Eleanore.
"I've been meaning to ask. Some of you are... certainly exotic monsters. That strange green humanoid and that bird are something, really. But you two... What are you exactly? I've seen hydras before, but never patched monsters with two heads." the human hunter asked, intrigued.
AND I'VE STILL BLOCKED OFF MY BALL!! FUCK!!"Oh, us?" says Melvin. "We're... what was that thing you used to say, Eleanor?"
"A Frankensteinian mishmash and utter abomination. We used to be separate creatures, living our own lives, but something killed us."
"We don't remember what it was, but our deaths were not pretty. Our body parts were torn apart and scattered."
"Yes. Somehow, by something or someone, we were utterly mauled. Then some egomaniac scientist by the name of Dr. Nadelstein finds our bodies, stitches us together like so, and reanimates us with lightning. We ran away from him, and he is hellbent on recapturing to make us his slaves. We've already run into him once after forming our little group here."
"Yes, and the others saved us, especially Rosamund. Maybe you should show her a little more respect."
Very good kitty(Jacoby feels embarrassed when Kevan calls him useless, prompting Elisa to step in.) Hey, lay off, pal. He's still new to this whole thing.
Y-Yes... (Jacoby nods rapidly.)
(Jacoby shivers after hearing exactly how Melvin and Eleanor ended up the way they are now.) I knew he was a terrible human, but...I didn't know he was THAT bad...I'm sorry... (He says.)
Yeah, that really stinks that this Nadelstooge guy did this to you. That was horrible! (Elisa says.)
It seems like some humans are just awful. (Jacoby sighs.)
Yeah, but don't forget that there are good humans out there, like I told you there are. (Elisa reminds Jacoby.)
"Hey, least I didn't lose all my artistic talent when I crash landed in the arena here."Rosamund snorts.
"You really believe walls are all I can create? Push me much further, lizard, and I will gladly show you the full extent of my powers."
She looks up at the ominous facade of the tower.
"Enough arguments, though. Our objective is in sight, and I suspect we will have to work together to overcome it - whether we want to or not."
Hail majestic corporate light, heaven born and ever bright!"EXCUSE ME, WHAT IN THE SEVEN HELLS???" Kevan shrieked, his confident face replaced with shock at Eleanor and Melvin's story.
The draconic warrior looked actually disturbed, for once. He needed a moment to look at the shining moon to recollect himself.
"I... I don't know what to say about that... This is disgusting! And you wonder why I think humans are dangerous?? IDIOTS!! Befriend them and that happens!! THERE ARE NO GOOD HUMANS!!!" Kevan screamed, looking more particularly at Rosamund and Elisa.
Kevan grunted and looked at the ground. The warrior took a deep breath.
"But you're right, witch. Enough arguments. Right now, I said I would stay to help you climb this tower, and I'm a monster of my word. I will help you... even that ugly human ghost of yours, since none of us can make her leave. But I'm not letting you take those crystal bats to that human king. Humans can't be trusted. The moment he'll have them, he is going to backstab you and lock you in a dungeon to rot at best. The only good humans out there are the ones who stay in their stinky wooden holes, or are dead ones." he said in a surprisingly serious tone.
Before opening the door, Kevan turned towards Eleanor and Melvin with a sickened, albeit kinder look than usual.
"I don't usually offer my services for free, and I... ugh, honestly feel sick just by looking at you two... But if you want me to get rid of this Dr. Noodlestein or whatever his ugly name is after we're done here, I'll gladly hunt him down. That madman can't be allowed to live."
Sighing, Kevan closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. He then violently kicked the door with his leg, instead of just trying to open it normally.
AND I'VE STILL BLOCKED OFF MY BALL!! FUCK!!"Don't encourage him, Senki, dear," Rosamund deadpans. "He's ranting enough as is."
Hail majestic corporate light, heaven born and ever bright!"Thanks, guys," says Melvin. "Whatever happens, I know we'll get through this together."
"But will you get through it?" an ominous, echoing voice comes inside the tower.
"Why don't you come inside and figure out if you've got what it takes to survive... the Tower of Trials?"
Very good kittyMust have...a lot of monsters my rookery and I have met who have acted that way toward humans had had a bad experience with humans before... (Elisa asides to Patch.)
(Jacoby yelps when a voice booms through the tower.)
Eep! Uh...I'm as ready as I'll ever be...I guess... (Jacoby squeaks.)
"Hey, least I didn't lose all my artistic talent when I crash landed in the arena here.""Not dead enough if you ask me. Whoever killed you should have done it properly, ugly." Kevan rudely hissed at Senki, still very sour at the idea of working with a human, even if she was a ghost by now.
The dragon snorted in annoyance at the sudden booming voice "welcoming" the group. Not scared in the slightest, he got through the entrance.
"Hmmm... I don't think there are enemies around yet. Let's find a way up." he said to the others.
AND I'VE STILL BLOCKED OFF MY BALL!! FUCK!!

Kevan simply snickered at Melvin attempting to defuse the situation.
"Why yes, I'm always ready for these spiders. In fact... Just behind you. And it is quite big..." he fearlessly pointed out as a spider crept towards them.
Still, Kevan got into a fighting stance and approached the monster. At least, he didn't intend to leave the group fight the spider on their own.
"You all are intriguing me... We'll continue this conversation later. I want to know why you're really after those crystal bats. I mean, no way am I letting you live if you're really working towards such a dumb goal. Seriously humans and monsters together... Pft!" he scoffed.
The draconic warrior haughtily glared at Rosamund's furious look and was a bit confused by Jacoby panicking.
"Hey! Fish-thing! Why are you squealing like a human girl? You can tear those spiders' legs apart with your bare hands!" he called out, facepalming.
"We're monsters! We're ten times better than those hairless monkeys. I mean look at that dumb human ghost! She can just throw rocks! That's ridiculous! Besides humans can't do... THAT!!" Kevan roared, charging ahead of the group. He took flight and flew towards the spider's face, attempting to pierce one of its eyes with his sword.
AND I'VE STILL BLOCKED OFF MY BALL!! FUCK!!