[@Zeroth][@Stabby]

Femus  found that, once again, hard work and deep thought paid off.  The bark that he needed to remove was difficult to detach but the tremor in the branch only affected him as much as that feeling of having someone walk over one's grave.  A chill and a moment's hesitation.  But, he knew that this tree was unusual and that he would have to cause a little damage to do what he was doing.  

Eventually, he was finished with the dress.  It wasn't much... really, it wasn't much at all.  But, it would cover the important bits and leave Nira's wings free to flap and her legs and arms free to kick and punch as needed.  He laid it down on the leaves with part of it held down by the Great Kao Bark he had removed.  It wouldn't do for wind to steal his first attempt at dressmaking.

More importantly, he had received the notification that his Crafting skill was now functioning.  It had a noticeable effect as well.  That dress would have been so very much worse if not for his Crafting skill.  He would have to  encourage Nira to train her own Crafting skill.  The lack of appendages actually lowered his ability to craft in a direct way.  That thought made him frown... until he saw the branch shudder under his healing attempt.

He stopped.

At that moment, there was no wind.  It would be a common instinct to doubt one's own senses if one thought that they had seen a tree move.  But, magic... magic changed everything.  If the Great Kao Tree was not just alive as a plant but also partially or completely animate, more like a beast, then staying here could be far more dangerous... or valuable than Femus had thought initially.  And, if it were able to move and was sleeping, then he would have to take pains to avoid disturbing it further.  But he had to know more.

Femus diminished his presence as much as possible, dimming his glow as well, and began to observe the tree and all its parts.  He sought to understand the plant as a living thing, the possible uses for its parts, the kind of interaction it had with the surrounding life in the forest, and anything else that would expand his knowledge about the Great Kao Tree.  He also used his Magic Analysis skill on the tree as a whole as well as on each part that he could see from his elevated position.  However, most of what he could see was leaves, bark, branch, trunk, and the inner bark, sap, and wood that he could still see through the small hole he had made.  He also studied the injury to the tree, seeking some sign that it had both stopped leaking sap and also begun to heal.

When he finished his study of the tree, he turned his eyes outward to things that were farther away.  Refocusing his eyes to study the pixies and anything else that moved with his Monster Analysis skill and his own observational skills, and keeping himself as unnoticeable as possible at the same time, wasn't as hard as doing some other things.  But, it was important.  He also sought to quiet the flow of his mana, like calming a stream so that its flow produced no ripples or sound.

The leaves limited his view of the ground and he didn't move around much, just levitating quietly a few inches above the leaves on the same branch.  He was simply gathering knowledge up to this point.  He'd meditate on it later.  The next thought that entered his mind was that Nira was out there alone, possibly distracted, and lacking equipment.  

She did say that she'd almost finished developing an attack spell.  However, as Femus had just experienced, there was a definite gap between an incomplete skill and a complete one.  Also, she was still an unevolved pixie.  There were a lot of things in this forest that could eat a pixie and still be hungry.

Femus stayed in the branches but moved around the tree to follow the direction of Nira's flight.  Once in a good vantage point, he began to look for her.  By now she would be some little distance away.  He calmed himself and tried to keep his presence suppressed, but he directed his mana into his eyes and ears.  He remembered the artificial kao buds and was very gentle in his direction.  He was hoping to strengthen and expand his senses, not damage them.  Besides, he had seen an unusable skill in his list related to sight and wanted to make progress in training it.  Even if he couldn't spot Nira, he could get better at finding things in general while he waited.