Maric quickly found his way to the monastery, leaping off his steed as he did and creating a large amount of noise with his armor as he did so. The resulting clamor brought the attention of some nearby monks who rushed over upon seeing the emblem of a sword upon open wings on his cloak, the sign of a paladin.<br/>"Sir! We were not expecting you so soon." One said, looking to be in his early twenties. "Have you slain the creature yet?"<br/>"Hush!" Said the second whose face was wizened by lines of time. "I am sorry paladin, for he is young, and often brash. I trust that your journey has been uneventful thus far?"<br/>"Not until recently." Maric answered the old man, thinking back upon the beautiful maiden he had met that day. "However, I did not know that it was this monastery that had requested the execution of the dragon. What reasons are there that makes this such an urgent matter?"<br/>"We've been seeing it frequently as of late, and it seems to get closer with each moon. Why, even not half an hour ago, it touched down just outside of our land! It will surely attack soon!"<br/>"That is your evidence?" The knight asked, an eyebrow raised. "I was told that there was more than that."<br/>"It's a dragon! A beast of the Devil!"<br/>Seeing that there was no way to logically argue with them, Maric sighed and decided to move on.<br/>"I'll get right on that." He said to put them at ease. "However, I have some other business to attend to. If you could be so kind, could you please direct me to the place where the women worship the Earth?"<br/>"But they're heathens!" Spat the younger monk. "What business do you have..."<br/>"My business is my own!" Maric cut in, somewhat angrily. "Now, old man, if you could perhaps tell me what I need to know, I'll be on my way."<br/>By now, he was quite impatient. The paladin had little patience with those that spread slander in their religion, and these men were just like that.<br/>After finally extracting the information from them, Maric pulled himself onto Hephaestus and took off full tilter, not even bothering to bid the monks farewell. He had had enough of their shortsightedness.