Dreu turned off his staff and walked towards the fallen bats. Standing within the edge of Ragellon’s staff light, he knelt down and touched the bat closest to him. There was a response so he called Dar over. As the demon butterfly approached him, the young man reached out and held the bat in his palm. He brought the bat into the light before he turned to Dar.

  Please heal this bat. We can use its assistance if we hope to go deeper.

  Dreu could feel the puzzled look from the demon butterfly but Dar didn’t argue. She casted her spell and, moments later, the bat started moving. Dreu carefully reached out so his hand was outside the light. The lesser demon bat became far more active as soon as it returned to the darkness. Dreu waited to see how the bat reacted but it seemed content just hovering above his palm. Sensing no aggression from the bat, Dreu repeated the procedure on the other three bats with Dar performing her healing spell on them as well. Once healed, two of the bats happily sat on his palms while the remaining two hovered nearby.

  They remind me of the demon worms with how they are getting attached to me. Maybe I should get eight of them too…

  Realizing that he was getting ahead of himself, Dreu turned serious as he spoke to the four bats.

  “I wonder if you four want to join me. We can use your strength while we explore the cave. I also believe you will get stronger if you join us. I see it as a win-win if you do so.”

  “Great,” muttered Ragellon. “The human has a bad habit of adopting trash and claiming that they might be useful later.”

  Dreu chose to make no comments on the matter. He knew that it would take time for Ragellon to accept what he was doing. Despite how much stronger the evolved demon worms were, he couldn’t deny that they still paled to many of the denizens in the Demon Realm. He had to keep working hard with his companions until they changed the perception of the supposedly weak demonic creatures that were at the bottom of the food chain.

  < Congratulations! Four lesser demon bats have joined your roster. >

  Can any of you four understand me?

  All four bats nodded their heads in unison.

  Can all of you communicate with me?

  Four yesses later, Dreu got his answer. Before he asked about the cave, the young man checked one of the bats on his prompt, hoping to find some hidden skills.

  < Lv 1 Lesser Demon Bat (Bartok):

  Description: This flying creature generally stays within dark caves where it hunts small insects that make the cave their home. If left alone, this creature will happily hunt and sleep. If provoked, it will retaliate with its fangs, though its retaliation is considered very weak and only slightly stronger than a demon worm mandibles. This creature either never sees combat for its entire life or dies too quickly to gain any combat experience.

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  Recommendations:

  -Don’t expose this creature to light, natural or artificial, as the creature receives a major debuff in illuminated settings..

  -Avoid combat by finding small spaces for the creature to hide in

  Evolution:

  -???

  Skill:

  -Dark Sight (Lvl 1): Active. Grants an ally the ability to see in the dark like bats for 15 minutes. Unlimited uses and no cost but ability has a 30 minute cooldown between uses.

  Status:

  -25% attack and defense from inexperience.

  -90% attack and defense from being near light.>

  Good! They have an evolution as well! Given enough time, I’ll find the requirements as well. And the dark sight skill…

  Remembering a more important matter, he then inquired about the cave from the bats and learned that they were in a cave system where a group of the bats were taking shelter. Upon inquiring further, the young man learned that the bats were fleeing from a dangerous enemy called the scaled ones that had been steadily occupying more and more of the caverns. A major conflict between the bats and the scaled ones had lasted for centuries but the bats found themselves on the losing side recently. Having lost battle after battle, the bats were forced into caverns they never inhabited before. At the rate things were going, the bats would either be killed off by the scaled ones or be forced to survive outside the caves until they could locate a cave free of the scaled ones’ influence. The bats added that, following his narrow escape from some scaled ones, they were minding their own business on the ceiling when an ugly creature rudely threw fireballs at them, interrupting their naps. The four bats all expressed their thanks to Dreu for saving them from death.

  I’m sorry…and I’m not ugly!

  Once he calmed Zog down, Dreu introduced the bats to his other companions and played the mediator for the bad start between the bats and Zog. Once that issue was resolved, he wanted to introduce Ragellon to them but she seemed very disinterested. Not willing to force an interaction, Dreu chose to postpone the introductions.

  Someday, you’ll realize that the supposedly weak creatures are strong in their own way.

  When he studied her further, Dreu realized that her attention was elsewhere. Her behavior suggested that she was investigating something. Unable to discern any new sight or sound, the young man approached her.

  “Is something wrong?” he asked Ragellon while his companions were interacting with the bats just outside the light radius.

  “I sense enemies approaching us through their massive bloodlust. Feels like they are almost upon us.”

  The scaled ones? Maybe those creatures are here to finish off the remaining bats?

  Dreu checked with his bats and they confirmed that the scaled ones were constantly on the move. Their sworn enemies weren’t content until the entire cave system fell under their complete control with them becoming the sole denizens of the caves. The fluttering sound in the chamber then grabbed everyone’s attention. Dreu couldn’t see what was happening in the dark so he asked one of the lesser demon bats.

  They are here! The scaled ones are here!