Looking at the tiny butterfly winged dragon in front of him Marcus was at a loss for words.
It was incredibly rare to find a beast or monster that could speak, but also dragons were considered one of the strongest beasts in the world, even the weakest of them being at least at the legendary grade.
However, after looking over the little dragon in front of him, Marcus was beginning to think it was not a true dragon but some type of lesser dragon like a drake or wyvern.
One it was tiny, at a size Marcus was sure even new born dragons would be, and two it had butterfly wings instead of the normal more bat like wings that were associated with dragons.
'What the hell is this thing?... Well, it is level thirty-four, so it is fairly strong, but this is weird. I have never met an intelligent beast or monster in a dungeon before, and I did not think it was possible. Though what do I really know about dungeons in the first place.'
As Marcus quickly processed what was going on he turned his attention back towards the butterfly winged dragon and said, "Thank you for helping my companions, but what are you and what do you want with us?"
The little dragon with butterfly wings seeing that Marcus had ceased hostilities and was open to dialogue heaved a slight sigh of relief and said, "My name is Findlyier, and I am a pixie dragon. And the reason I sought you out was because I sensed a very powerful presence of light nearby fighting a powerful presence of darkness and came to see if I could find an ally. However, when I found you, it turned out you were the one emitting both the presence of darkness and light. So, I waited and watched to see what you are and how you acted. I had to make sure you were not some evil being, but after watching for a bit, I believe you are good so would you please help me and my fellows?"
Marcus was left stunned for a moment by the rapid fire and lengthy explanation the pixie dragon Findlyier had given him, and it took him a bit to process all of that information.
"So, you want me to help you and your friends with something. I am sorry but right now I have my own goals I need to accomplish so unless it is an easy task, you will have to count me out."
The pixie dragon looked saddened by Marcus' response, but it quickly got itself back together and began its plea anew.
"Please help us, the demon and his forces are slowly taking over our territory. We have other adventures that are helping us but even with their assistants we will be unable to last much longer. I was sent out to find more allies, but I fear time is running out"
Hearing that a demon and other adventures were involved piqued Marcus' interest a bit, but he still did not think that getting involved would be in his best interest.
However, before he was about to reject the little pixie dragon's request, he saw Lilia looking at him like she wanted to help.
Sighing Marcus said to Findlyier, "What do you have to offer, my services are not free but if you have something to pay me with, I would be willing to help."
The little pixie dragon perked up again hearing this and said, "Yes we have a number of natural tressures that we could offer you, or the magic cores from those that have fallen. And the demon has amassed resources from our area as well as others so if you help us defeat them, I am sure you could have some of the tressures it took."
The pixie dragon became excited now that it believed it would get Marcus' help, but Marcus began wondering where this pixie dragon had come from.
"Where are you from and is it far from here."
Findlyier then shook its head and said, "No it is not far from here. If you follow me, we should be able to make it in a day."
The little pixie dragon thinking it had already obtained Marcus' help began fluttering away heading in the direction opposite of the river and the area that was Marcus' original goal.
However, Marcus had one big issue to deal with and did not start following right away much to Findlyier's dismay.
'What am I going to do with Lilia and her beast companions. I can not just send her back, even if she got lucky and managed to make it out of this area somehow, she would never survive the desert. But bringing her with me when I know there is a demon around may be just as dangerous.'
Marcus toiled what to do with Lilia for a few minutes but knew that he had to bring her with him, since he would not feel comfortable leaving her in this incredibly dangerous part of the dungeon without his protection.
"Findlyier is there a safe place that Lilia could stay wherever we are going. Her safety is my highest priority and unless you have somewhere she can stay away from the fighting I will not be able to help you."
Findlyier having flown back after seeing Marcus was not following, thought about it for a moment and said, "She would be able to stay with the young that have been put away from where the demon is attacking. It should be a fairly safe place, much safer then where we are now."
After hearing this Marcus nodded his head and told everyone that they would be following Findlyier.
Truth be told Marcus was very interested in what was going on since he had met two demons up to this point and neither had been up to anything good.
Then there was Findlyier himself and the place he had come from. Marcus was not sure what it would be, but his curiosity was pulling him to follow the pixie dragon.
'I wonder who these other adventures are as well. Most people would either be afraid or try to kill a talking beast on sight. Well Maybe Findlyier's close resemblance to a dragon helps him in dealing with people.'
As Marcus followed behind Findlyier, he ran multiple different theories he had about the mysteries that surrounded the pixie dragon and his community.
Things like why the demon was attacking, were they all just a bunch of pixie dragons, or was it a group of multiple different beasts.
Soon Marcus and his group had to rest even though Findlyier wanted to keep going. Lilia and her two golden lion cub beast companions Aurelia and Zareen were still tired from the earlier zombie attack and needed time to recover.
"I understand you are in a hurry Findlyier, but none of us are at our best right now after fighting that swarm of undead. Give us a few hours to rest here, I am sure your friends can hold out a bit longer, and even if we arrived now, we would not be much help."
Understanding it from Marcus and his group's point of view, the pixie dragon settled down though sense of fear was ever present in its eyes.
However, this rest gave him a bit of time to find out more about the situation and Marcus began getting details about what was going on.
'So around two weeks ago the demon began attacking his home and brought along with it a small army of monsters and beasts that were enhanced by the demon's powerful darkness. And from the description Findlyier gave me the demon itself looks like a towing pitch-black person with horns on its head and blades for arms.'
Marcus now understood a bit about the enemy that was attacking Findlyier's home and there full situation at least form before Findlyier had left to find more allies.
From what he had found out it was indeed a community of intelligent beasts that lived in an incredibly resource rich area which explained why the demon wanted it for itself.
Of course, they were not just going to roll over and let their home be taken from them and fought back against the demon.
Though over time they were beginning to be worn down even after recruiting the help of a band of nearby adventures.
'This demon really sounds like trouble. It commands an army of monsters and beasts it has empowered with darkness. The only caveat is that its army is severely weaken during the area's simulated daytime, forcing them to only fight when it is dark. '
While Marcus and his companions rested, he began formulating a plan to defeat the demon and its forces and came to only one conclusion.
'The longer the demon is given to recruit more monsters and beasts into its fold the worse things are going to get. If I want to really help them taking out the demon first is the best way. It is probably weak to the light element so if I can engage it one on one, I might be able to win.'
Marcus then opened up his status and assigned the new stat points he had gotten and used thirty-six skill points to level up his light magic skill.
'Let's see if the tier five light magic spell does not give me an advantage against the demon.'