"You've got to be kidding me."
Once again, I couldn't help but say it out loud, but she was right. We don't have many options, and as revolting as the idea was, I still felt really hungry when I saw blood dripping from a bite mark on the animal.
"Heeee, so even animals are affected by magic now..."
I said something I already knew to try to distract myself from the idea of sucking a rat's blood.
"Stop being gross and bite this already. If all else fails, I'll even finger you to take a bite out of Lumi or Nawa."
Yippee, magically enhancing giant rat blood to mutant dog blood... Since magic exists, could reincarnation, transmigration, and even time travel be real?
Because, like, if they were, wouldn't it be quicker if I just killed myself, went back in time, and acted like those crazy (not so much now) survivalists who always seemed a little anxious for things to get blown up in the air?
"Stop thinking nonsense and bite this thing, or I'll make you bite it."
She said, very close to my face, still in pixie form. "Aaaaaahhhhhh okay, let's go, this probably won't kill me."
I took a few short breaths and bit the rat's neck. Unlike with the goblin, I didn't feel blood spurt into my mouth; it was more like biting into a popsicle that was just starting to melt. A trickle of liquid enters your mouth when you bite into the solid part.
With the obvious difference that it wasn't something cold (actually, it was still a little warm), and it was an animal, not a popsicle.
Since it was already dead, its heart wasn't beating, and therefore not much blood was getting into my mouth. So I had to lift the animal into a very awkward position so gravity could help. Throughout the process, I didn't take my mouth off the animal's neck, and naturally, even with little blood, I could still taste it.
It was disgusting, not nearly as bad as the goblin's, but still disgusting.
You might have thought it would taste like cheese, following the rat stereotype, but no. It tasted like a cheap banana whey protein, made with water mixed with milk that had started to sour with a few pellets (I think it was the coagulated blood; I guess time keeps passing inside an item box).
It was quite strange and definitely unappetizing, but flavor-wise, it wasn't as bad as it could have been (after all, at least it didn't taste rotten, just kind of rotten). Still, it wasn't something I wanted in my mouth often.
But if necessary, I wouldn't mind drinking it again. Of course, if I had no other option or if the option was goblin blood.
Unlike with the goblin, which I drained in mere seconds, it took me longer with the rat. Maybe because it was dead or I wasn't as hungry as before, but it was still faster than if I had downed a bottle of water in one go.
Taking it out of my mouth and throwing the body onto the table, I sighed and leaned back on the couch, oblivious to the branches and twigs overhead.
Closing my eyes, I could feel a warmth flowing through my body from my stomach, something comforting like warm bathwater spreading through my veins.
"Better?"
"Much better."
"So it takes a giant rat to make you full? Hmm, good to know."
"Full? No, definitely not."
"So you're still 'hungry'?"
She said, making air quotes.
"Yes, still, just not as strong as before."
Not nearly as strong as before. If I were to make a comparison, I'd say the goblin blood would have filled the same as a bag of crackers (or cookies), while the rat would have filled the same as a grilled cheese sandwich or ham and cheese sandwich (except for the obvious differences). Like a snack from a cafe or a diner.
"Aaaahhhhh, so how are we going to make you full?"
"And why is it so important that I stay full?"
I didn't understand why she was so particular about this.
"Because I don't want you to get hungry enough to attack me, Mom, Dad, or my babies."
Okay, it's a valid reason, but come on, I'm only level 2 and they're at 7 or 8, I think they could stop me without much trouble.
"Maybe, but if you attack us at the same speed you attacked the goblin, according to what Snitch said, then I don't know if we could stop it. We're more focused on magic and support (me and mom), or strength and endurance (dad), not speed."
"Maybe Dad could take a lot of your blows, probably, but could he land one on you? I'm not so sure."
Okay, again, that's a valid argument. But I still doubt I'd be able to do much damage.
"Okay, I get it, but how are we going to solve this? It's not like I can just catch giant rats all the time and put them in my [item box], right?"
Before Mari could answer, we heard a very familiar sound. Which, to me at least, was very irritating.
*Cooocccoorrccccoooo*
We turned to the "window" on the right, toward the neighbor's yard, and I could see some shadows moving quickly back and forth. As soon as I saw them, the comfort in my stomach disappeared, and in its place, the same pain and burning appeared again.
"How about chicken for dinner?"
I asked as I stood up, still looking at the "window".
*******************
Meanwhile.
(3rd person POV)
In a warehouse two kilometers from Nando's house, two people were working on a car in a dimly lit room.
"Okay, try it now, honey."
The man, over seven feet tall, with reddish-brown hair and well-defined muscles, said.
*Tchooo tchooo tchooo*
"Tsk, it still hasn't worked."
The man said irritably.
"I wonder if it's the transmission that's bad? It's been years since we've used it."
A beautiful black woman with perfectly curly hair that reached the bottom of her back said, stepping out of the driver's door.
"Even if it were, which I'm sure it isn't, this [mechanical] skill should help compensate, but so far, nothing!!!"
The man said almost in a rage, something typical when he was angry.
"Calm down, don't focus so much on this, but I think we should go back soon. I'm worried about the kids."
"Yeah, I know, but—"
*Boom, Boom, Boom*
*Grrrrruuuu, Huuummm, ggrrrrachahh*
"I don't think they're too keen on letting us go."
The man said, looking toward a window he'd reinforced shortly after they arrived. From there, they could see a huge horde of zombies and undead animals outside.
"Aaaahhhhh, I should have tried to install the silencer as soon as we got in."
The man groaned again.
"Hmm, probably."
The woman nodded.
"Mari warned us that making too much noise would attract a lot of attention, but I didn't think it would be so much so soon."
"Weren't you the one who convinced her to walk slowly to the ice cream shop to find the dogs?"
"I think it was you, wasn't?"
The two looked at each other and immediately laughed at the same time, despite the situation others would only see as despair.
For them, the situation, while indeed frightening, wasn't so dire, not because they considered themselves very strong. But because they knew the creatures outside would be especially easy for them to handle.
The man, Vitor Martins, had the ability [fire magic], while the beautiful Black woman, Carol Martins, had the ability [holy magic]. Both from what their daughter had explained and what they had tested themselves, they were especially effective against the undead.
"Well, I don't think we'll have to rush too much. Nando was still asleep and Mari was already with the dogs, so they should be safe by now."
"True. But what if Nando ended up awake while she was gone? Wouldn't he have gone after us? He's done it before, and when he was only 7 years old."
Vitor said, remembering the time when he arrived home and couldn't see little Nando, who was only 7 at the time, anywhere, and went looking for him like crazy at the neighbor's. An hour later, they realized he had woken up from his afternoon nap, and since he hadn't seen his mother or sisters, and with the gate unlocked, he thought someone had kidnapped them and ran after them.
"Maybe, but it's not the same now."
"Oh, no, who would have thought this would happen?"
If they were being honest, they hadn't fully understood what was happening, but they were smart enough to know that everything they knew had changed, including their own bodies.
"I just hope that if he woke up, he found Mari soon after. I don't even want to imagine what could happen to him alone."
"Calm down, dear, you know he can handle himself. He doesn't like reminding us that he knows several fighting styles, especially the time he knocked me to the ground with one of the moves he learned."
He said, remembering the event. A good part of him was sure that Nando had only managed to do that because he had completely underestimated his son and caught him off guard. But it was still impressive that a 9-year-old at the time had managed to take an adult in his mid-thirties to the ground with his own strength.
"I still don't like the idea, or leaving Mari in charge of things."
"Don't worry, they know how to handle things, and when they're alone, they help each other. It was like that when we went to see your mother, and it'll be like that now."
Vitor said with great certainty in his voice.
"Yeah... you're probably right."
Carol replied, a little more uncertainly in her voice.
***************
...
"Let me go and catch some chickens!!!!!"
"Don't even bother, now you keep watch and let me sleep!!!!!"
Nando and Mari shouted at each other as Nando tried to go toward the neighbor, but Mari was mercilessly pulling on her brother's clothes.
...
Perhaps some doubts have their merit.