Garrett and the robot rushed out of the corpse-filled room towards the source of the screaming. It definitely sounded feminine, but Garrett didn't recognize it as either Cerezie or Vanessa. It was more high-pitched and softer. Still, it was someone in trouble, nonetheless. Their feet pounded against the ground through the hallway until they reached the room with the source of the voice.

"SOMEONE HELP ME!"

It was a small girl, running away from a group of goblins. Well, running wasn't accurate, but rather, flying away with small translucent wings on her back; And by a small girl, the girl was hardly any bigger than the goblins, no more than maybe a foot tall. She emanated a bright purple glow, which seemed to attract the goblins to her position even more. The goblin group seemed to steadily be closing up the gap between them and the girl. After processing the situation, Garrett gripped his sword and rushed in.

"Let's save her!" He shouted back to the robot, who nodded and charged in as well. Quickly, he dashed and sliced a goblin across its chest, causing it to sprawl backward from the impact. The corpse dropped a small orb of Helioxene. The other goblins drew their attention from the flying girl to Garrett, lunging at him with claws and daggers. Before they could get close, the robot came from behind Garrett, knocking back several goblins into the wall, killing them. It took Garrett a moment to remember that Helioxene seemed to only drop from the ones he killed. "Restrain them! Let me finish them off!"

"Affirmative, Boss!" The robot quickly shifted tactics from brute force to subduing the goblins. It grabbed a few and held them down with one arm, and with the other, it used the knives it had procured to slash the legs of other goblins in reach. Garrett made quick work of the goblins, now getting a better handle on using his sword to slay these monsters. "Incredible, you are quite the goblin slaying menace."

"Thanks," Garrett said, picking up the Helioxene that dropped from the goblins. As he finished off the remaining goblins, he looked around the battlefield. "Hey, where'd that small girl go?" As he and the robot surveyed the room, the bright purple light the goblins had been chasing was nowhere to be found.

The eye of the robot switched from the blue glow to a blinking yellow as it looked around the room. It quickly pointed to a section of stalagmites on the ground. "There, behind the rocks."

"Hey, it's safe to come out now. The goblins are all dead."

There was a pause before tiny hands emerged from behind the rocks. A soft purple glow followed, then a tiny girl, no more than a foot tall. She looked around the room at the dead goblins, then towards Garrett and the robot.

"We aren't going to hurt you," Garrett said in a kind and calming tone, sheathing his sword and gesturing for the robot to put away its knives.

After looking around for a bit, the small girl flew up around Garrett's face, looking him over and the robot. Now getting a closer look, Garrett could see that she was wearing a purple dress, designed to accommodate for her wings. Attached to her side was what looked like a marble in a small net. She had wavy black hair and pale skin, though strange black markings dotted around her skin. After finishing looking over Garrett and the robot, she smiled and bowed. She spoke in a somewhat high-pitched tone, yet soft and soothing. "Thank you for saving me, my heroes."

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While Garrett knew that he had the role of the Hero of Asuria, this was the first time that he was referred to as a hero. He smiled warmly at the small fluttering girl.

"Oh, I can't take any praise," the robot said, patting Garrett on the shoulder. "It was all the work of my Boss, Garrett."

"Ah, well, thank you for saving my life, Hero Garrett," the small girl said. "I owe you my life." She crossed her arms over her chest and bowed like a butler would.

"Oh, please, that's not necessary," Garrett said, still getting used to being considered a hero by anyone.

"Please, I insist!" the girl said, almost pleading. "Allow me to accompany you, Hero Garrett!" Garrett could see that behind her eyes of gratitude was a scared girl who nearly died to goblins. He couldn't very well leave her on her own.

"What kind of hero would I be if I left you alone?" Garrett said, causing the girl to smile widely with tears of joy in her eyes.

"Thank you so much!" she said as she hugged his neck. Garrett carefully gave her a gentle pat on the back. After a bit, she recollected herself, adjusted her dress, and fluttered in front of Garrett. "I am Iadre, a pixie of the Felsins Clan." She bowed again.

"Well, as you heard, I'm Garrett," Garrett said, "And this is... uh..." It took him a bit to realize that the robot companion he had didn't have a name. "Actually, I never gave you a name, did I?"

"You did not, Boss, but if you don't want me to have a name, that's great!"

"No, I have to call you something," Garrett said, trying to think of a name.

"Oh, how about Plex?" Iadre asked.

"Plex? Why Plex?" Garrett asked.

Iadre fluttered over to the chest area of the robot and gestured to some of the worn away markings on the robot. "Right here, it says 'Plex,' so I figured its name should be Plex."

"Plex, huh? Sounds good to me," Garrett said. "Alright, your name is officially Plex."

The robot hummed softly and nodded. "Well then, Plex, at your service, Boss."

Garrett and Iadre both chuckled a little. "So, Iadre, you can read those markings?"

She nodded. "Yeah, they're written in Dwarven, though it's hard to read them because they're so old and worn out. I barely managed to read that." She fluttered and sat on Plex's shoulder.

"So, Plex was made by a Dwarf?" Garrett said. "Well, we at least have a lead on trying to figure out who Plex's creator is." He wanted to know more both for himself and for Plex. For Plex to be able to really think on his own, this has to be some advanced magic or technology. If that kind of power is in this world, then it might be a way to help stabilize the Lospil of Asuria.

"Boss, you really mean it?" Plex asked, pulling Garrett out of his thoughts. "You're going to help me find out who made me?"

"Yeah, I think it'll be a good adventure, and serve us well in the future." If Plex had a mouth, it'd be smiling widely. "So, Iadre, what are you doing down here in the Darge?"

"Oh, uh..." Her face turned red from embarrassment. She shyly looked away. "I was chasing a rabbit for stew, and then I got lost down here."

"So, you didn't intentionally come here?"

"No."

"Did you encounter anything or anyone else down here besides the goblins?"

"Oh, I did see something strange while I was lost." She stretched her arms out wide and gently flapped them. "It was a large Birdian, which is weird since most of them stay in the Cuzar Empire. It's rare to see any of them in the Prosia Kingdom, much less down in the Darge."

Garrett nodded, as if he understood any of the places Iadre was listing off. He was more curious if that Birdian, whatever that was, was another companion or not. "I wonder what they were doing down here. Can you take us to where you saw them?"

"Of course! Leave it to me!" Iadre said, gesturing towards one of the exits of the room. "It's that way."

Garrett nodded to Plex and the three of them headed in the direction Iadre pointed towards.