Upon hearing the voice, I immediately swiveled in the direction, taking an offensive stance, tendrils out and a [Fireball] spell rapidly forming within my palm. Tucked into the corner of the room as if forgotten was a silver birdcage, and inside it, sitting in a cross-legged position, was a tiny winged girl looking at me.

She had extremely long, disheveled golden hair splayed along the cage's bottom. Sprouting out of her back were what looked like butterfly wings, except translucent and dull. The clothes she wore looked like nothing but tiny brown rags, more suited for wiping a table than being worn. The word that immediately came to mind was slovenly, and as if to answer my thoughts, she started scratching her stomach with a bored and tired expression.

I immediately threw out an [Identify], hoping to find out what the strange creature was.

"What the hell are you?" She asked before I could ask the same question. "Have I been asleep so long that goblins are now blue and have grown wings?"

"I'm not a goblin, at least not in the conventional sense," I replied, my words hanging in the air, pregnant with unspoken truths.

"Oooh, are you one of Mister Gloomies experiments?" She asked.

I immediately latched on to the word. "Experiment? Are you also one? Do you know which God?"

She chuckled, slapping her thigh, "Hell no, I'm not one of his little lab rats." Then her expression turned a little serious, "And if you're mentioning the Gods, I don't think you are one of them either."

"Oh..." I responded, feeling a little deflated. It made sense, unfortunately, as this lab felt far too old for Gramps' experiment.

"So, do you mind doing me a favor and letting me out?" She asked, now cleaning the inside of her right ear with a pinkie.

I was immediately cautious. I had no idea if Trixie was a friend or foe, and in my partially vulnerable state, I didn't feel like taking the risk.

"Perhaps..." I replied, trying to size her up. "What are you, and why are you captured?"

"I asked you first..." she said, puffing her cheeks. "But fine, I can show some deference to my potential rescuer. I'm a pixie who was captured and being used for ingredients by Mister Gloomy."

"A pixie? Trixie the pixie?" I replied, frowning at what felt a little contrived.

"Yup. Chose the name myself, glad you like it." She said, retrieving her finger and examining it before flicking whatever filth she had accumulated on the tip.

"And Mister Gloomy was using you for ingredients? How?"

"Wow, you really know nothing huh. Pixie dust, of course." She said and, as if to answer my question further, stood up and started shaking herself like a wet dog. A gold dust emanated from her like mushroom spores and lightly settled along the silver cage floor.

She seemed friendly enough, but I wasn't totally convinced. I decided to swap to my [Apex Hunter] emblem to see if she triggered a reaction. Trixie seemed to trigger a response from the emblem, but it wasn't the one I was familiar with, as if the emblem itself was confused about whether she was worthy or not.

'Well, shit. That just makes me even more worried.'

"So? Gonna let me out, blue goblin? Blueblin?" She asked, giving a toothy smile, "Judging by how this place has gone to hell and back, I'm assuming Mister Gloomy is gone or dead, and I'd very much appreciate being free again."

"Maybe... Tomorrow, though, I need to rest first." I replied. If I was going to let her out, I wanted all my [Sub-Cores] and [Defy Death] triggers back, so I was prepared for the possible betrayal.

"What? Tomorrow?" She shouted, puffing out her cheeks again and looking extremely pouty.

"Rather tomorrow than possibly years from now. I'm sure you can wait one more day?" I asked.

She let out a huge, overexaggerated, and reluctant sigh, "Fine..."

She plopped down on her backside and then started making shooing gestures as if telling me to leave. It seemed like she was done conversing with me entirely until I was willing to consider letting her out.

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I slowly walked out of the room, and the tiny pixie was already closing her eyes and entering what looked like a trance. I assumed that was how she passed the time without going crazy being trapped here for who knows how many years.

I entered one of the rooms, far away from the private study, and melted into another hideaway hole. I covered the entry with a broken cage and then had to ensure it was sufficiently large for me to withdraw enough slime mass, as it would cost a lot to replenish all my cores. I felt a little bad leaving Trixie like that, and I wanted to trust her, but I just wasn't willing to take that risk without my assurances.

When I woke up the next day, I was filled with immense relief to see my cores floating happily inside of me again. As predicted, it had cost a fortune of slime, a week's worth of [Slime Conversion] at minimum, assuming I didn't supplement my diet with some monster meat.

'Do they cost more to replenish now that they are at a higher level? I don't recall Alpha costing nearly this much to regenerate.'

Regardless of the cost, I was glad to have the full team back together and felt whole again. I ordered each of them to cast [Arcane Armor] on themselves and wiggled with glee when I watched the magical protection successfully form. I also had Epsilon don the Violet core coloring; I hadn't yet obtained one, but I wanted a visual motivator.

Before approaching the study with Trixie, I formed three [Inferno Sac] and started preparations by filling them to the brim with mana. I still evaluated this as my most powerful attack to date, at least in terms of instant destructive power. [Decay] with enough debuffs was likely stronger but required more prep time. I also transformed back into my previous form, except this time, I wore my armor, which readjusted to fit me thanks to the enchantment. I had Epsilon take position in my head for visibility and finally tested that I could have Alpha activate [Tranquil Flow].

When I entered the room, I noticed Trixie was in the exact same position I had left her in and didn't react to my presence. Only when I approached the cage did she finally react.

"Oh! Blueblin, you're back." She responded, stretching and letting out an overexaggerated yawn. "I hope it really is the next day and not years... You weren't wearing armor last time."

"Nope, it's the next day," I answered honestly, still trying to examine the so-called pixie.

"Great. So you going to let me out now?"

"Well... Not to be rude, but what happens if I let you out?"

"I'd be most grateful!" Trixie replied, giving a wide, toothy grin. When I didn't immediately respond, she sighed and continued talking. "Well, I could offer you a bunch of pixie dust. Maybe you could convince me to be your magical familiar, or perhaps... Friends?"

"What's pixie dust used for?" I asked, genuinely curious about the strange golden powder.

"Potions... Enchanting... You know, magic stuff."

"Right. Alright, I guess."

"Thanks! Man, I can't wait to stretch the old wings..." Trixie said, standing up and doing some light stretches.

I sighed and looked at the cage; from what my senses told me, it was mildly enchanted but didn't seem enough to keep someone captured. I did an [Appraisal] to understand what this was before I attempted to eat it, and it was revealed to be Lead Silver. I could only assume it was some form of alloy; perhaps that was why she was contained.

I placed a hand on the cage and started digesting it, I almost expected some form of resistance, but it dissolved away at remarkable speed, making me wonder how it even kept her contained if it was so fragile. As soon as the roof of the cage melted away, Trixie fluttered up; her dull wings were now bright and vivid, shimmering like a rainbow. I cautiously stepped back while she stretched and took a deep breath, her entire body becoming more striking in color, like a fresh coat of paint.

I was about to breathe a sigh of relief when Trixie suddenly smirked. Black horns suddenly appeared on her head, a black tail, and her rainbow butterfly wings were replaced with bat wings.

"You fool!" She cackled right before I unloaded all three [Inferno Sacs].

The room erupted in blue flames, and the bookcase, desk, cage, and everything else were vaporized in a scorching inferno. Then I activated [Slime Burst], exploding two large salvos, one armed with [Cryo Slime] and the other [Blaze Slime] and both with [Acid Slime]. The two contrasting slime types violently reacted to each other, and the entire room sounded like it was about to collapse; I rushed out of the room and prepared to see if anything emerged.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" A shrill voice screeched from the slowly dying flames.

I paused in confusion, but not before holding a variety of offensive spells each between me and my [Sub-Cores].

An extremely wide-eyed Trixie appeared before me; the black tail, wings, and horns were gone. I tensed, ready to unload my barrage of spells on her.

"What is wrong with you!?" She shouted at me, but before I could say anything, she kept up her verbal assault. "Holy shit, how high-strung are you that you can't even take a joke!?"

I tried to open my mouth, but she interjected.

"I'm a bloody pixie; everyone knows we play pranks! What the hell have you been through to be tenser than a violin string? That can't be healthy; you must learn to chill out!"

"And what the hell was that? Are you secretly a glamoured dragon? No, you can't be because I've met dragons who are not nearly as trigger-happy as you; what the hell is wrong with you!?" She was panting heavily, having not stopped once to breathe during that entire tirade.

I didn't know how to react, so I stared at her in stunned silence, my offensive spells still ready to fire.

"Damn it, Blueblin, say something!" She screeched at me.

"S-sorry?" I stuttered out.

She sighed and groaned while pulling at her hair before finally responding, "Look, I'm sorry, too. I had no idea I'd be staring death in the face over a prank. I guess I should have gotten to know you more first."

After finally gathering myself back up from the initial shock, I responded, "Yes, you should have. I don't think anyone would trust a random monster to be playing a joke or prank."

"What?" Trixie looked at me dumbfounded, "I'm not a monster. Honestly, that's a little insulting."

"Sorry... Does that mean you're a race like the elves or dwarves?" I asked curiously, slowly easing up on my tension.

"Ew. No way." Trixie responded with a look of disgust.

I couldn't help but sigh, full of emotional exhaustion. This was going to be a long day...