[@Zeroth] [@Stabby]


[quote]You used Monster Analysis I!
---Pixie---
Pixies are a tiny humanoid Fey-type Monster. While somewhat intelligent, they lack empathy towards one another even compared to beasts like Goblins. Capable of flight and healing magic, but not physically strong or skilled enough to fight or use weapons well. Their Wings are membranous structures interlaced with hair-thin blood vessels. They are fragile, but hold semi-magical properties.[color=9e0b0f]This one is unusual.[/color]
[color=gray][b]System:Femus[/b][/color][/quote]

[color=598527]"Nira Wildheart.  It is a well chosen name for... a second chance... and a new freedom."[/color]  Femus said quietly, after waiting patiently for her to finish speaking.  Her name had a strong fantasy sound to it.  It strengthened his belief that she was also a reincarnated person.  Femus had as much reason to keep his name from his prior life as others might have to abandon it... and the reasons were likely just as private.  Still, he could use this to test her.  [color=598527]"My... previous parents had a certain sense of humor with regard to the family business.  Though, they had about the same luck as my more recent parents when it comes to avoiding danger.  Thank you for your invitation.  Please pardon me."[/color]

He managed to levitate closer to the rat before trying to pick out the parts that seemed the least healthy with lesser force.  These he would leave to one side for the inevitable scavengers who would follow their meal.  It was tough.  His magic was still extremely low and exerting himself to set spoiled food aside might seem reckless.  But, he was a creature that was mostly dependent on magic now.  His appetite was limited and table manners were a far less justifiable nicety than courtesy or simple cleanliness.  He simply placed himself next to an opening in the skin and began directly eating, one tiny mouth bite at at time.

Femus had been raised the son of a butcher family.  Eating raw rat... was about as expected.  Predator game meat isn't known for being tasty under most circumstances.  Raw rat that had seemingly fed on bugs and random scavenge for most of the past few months had many of the preferred traits that he imagined extremely low brow dumpster fare to have.  But, it was food.  Besides, this particular meal had gained him an acquaintance.  An acquaintance that he kept an eye on as he ate, watching for her reaction to his previous 'careless' statement.

Cooking might help the meat a bit... but it would need a lot more help to truly be good.

In fact, his current company had looks that would have turned his head when he was still human.  But, that was before he discovered how easy it really was to take apart a living body.  The same simple strike could take the head off a chicken or sever the spine of a human.  It really was... anti-climactic.  His visceral appreciation of physical beauty had seemingly been crippled by that experience.  There was little to guarantee that she was the same as he was, resurrected by some strange magic and kidnapped by the Demon King.  Still, Femus found himself believing that it was far more likely that they were the same rather than that a random pixie had suddenly developed these traits.

Besides, that Demon King had seemed both a personally motivated and pragmatic sort.  Femus did not think that such a being would waste the effort needed to scatter his recruits.  It was far more likely that he would dump them in convenient places in batches.  Anything else would involve far too much investment and... concern.

The corner of Femus's mouth turned upward, just a tiny bit, at the thought of that Demon King acting concerned.  It was a hilarious image.

It didn't take long for him to feed himself sufficiently and he pulled away from the open portions of the body, levitating up near the head before resting on the dead rat's snout.

Now was the time for after meal conversation.  But, he also attempted to sense if there was any mana in the body.  Specifically, he was looking for a mana core or some other concentrated nexus of energy.  It wasn't terribly likely that it would be there, even if this world had such things.  It was a mere rat after all.

[color=598527]"Do you have a place to stay?"[/color]  He had planned a more subtle approach but he was finding the growing aroma of cooked meat and vegetables to be a little too distracting... and frustrating.  Eating raw rat while others feast was... a bit much.

He could hear and smell the goblin party going on but his first thought was that he glowed and flew slowly.  Even if the goblins were terrible shots, there were enough of them to hit him with something and he wouldn't be able to get away.  He needed power and skill before he could even cross their territory... wait... [color=598527]"They're having a big party... all together in one spot."[/color]  His words were soft and bemused as idle thoughts gained a semblance of purpose.

He didn't realize that he was effectively interrupting himself.  The thought was just too tempting.  With all the goblins in one spot, the far parts of their territory would be sparsely populated, if not completely empty.  The two of them could escape this encirclement if they moved quickly and quietly.  They would have to face the outside territory, of course, but this kind of event was unlikely to be repeated often.

[color=598527]"We might be able to get out of this goblin ring... but it might just be rushing to our deaths.  Then again, we could try to sneak something from the goblins instead."[/color]  After saying this, half thinking aloud and half conversing, he focused on Nira again.  It was time to take a risk.  [color=598527]"No matter what, we both need to get our strength back.  Do you know how to meditate to speed your magic recovery? I have a tree hollow that's fairly safe.  If you'd like, we could recover our magic and talk more there."[/color]