An Owl's Rise

After Evelyn had been shown her room in Melisandre's mansion, Anneli began taking her all over the place and showing her the facilities that she would have access to.

Unfortunately, while it was all very impressive, Evelyn felt that she needed a map of the mansion since it was incredibly massive. Well beyond what she had ever expected.

Yet this was just the way that things were built in the Owls Roost since a good number of its inhabitants were quite large and needed the space to move around.

"And this here is the nearest washroom to where you will be staying. I know that you came from the wild, but while you are staying with Melisandre you are expected to keep yourself clean." Anneli said as she opened up the door for Evelyn to look inside.

Poking her head into the room, she was able to see that it was similar to what she was used to on Earth, but also quite a bit different.

For one thing there was not a sink to wash one's hands or face in, since only owls that had somehow adopted a humanoid form even had hands, and to wash their faces they would need to get into the bathing facility.

This part at least looked a bit similar to Evelyn as there was some sort of faucet that released water from above like a shower.

Though as Anneli showed her how to use she found that what she thought was only a drain also could expel water quite like a fountain.

Also, there were some cleaning products in the room, but she was not certain what they were for, as they were quite different from the soap, conditioner, and lotion she was used to as a human.

They were all powders of some kind with different colors and smells.

"Ah those are the cleansing powders. They will help with getting rid of grim that has built up in more difficult to clean areas. And these two here are used to give your feathers a glossier shine, but there is no need to really use them unless you are trying to impress someone." Anneli said as she went over what each of the powders was for.

Once she had finished explaining everything it the washroom, both of them exited, and she said, "Well I have now shown you the areas of the mansion you have access to and that you are likely to use frequently. Now I would ask that you wait in your room until Melisandre returns from her summons. I am sure you are likely tired with you only recently finishing your trials without any time to rest."

At that Anneli escorted Evelyn back to her room where she shut her inside and told her again to get some much-deserved rest.

However, as soon as Anneli was gone, Evelyn did not do as requested and go to sleep, but instead went over to the platform that would lower her to the second level of her room.

'Come on, it has to work somehow.' She thought while trying to activate the elevator.

Eventually she figured it out when she found an area of the floor that was slightly raised, and when she pressed it down and added some of her magical energy to it, she activated the magic circle.

Quickly the platform began to sink, and she was once again brought down into the second level of her room that was filled with magical tools she was dying to try out.

But while she was rushing with excitement, there was no doubt she was exhausted. But that did not mean that she could not continue to strengthen herself.

'While the air here may already have more magical energy than I am used to, I can tell that I can take more. So, if I am going to sleep, I might as well get stronger at the same time.' Evelyn thought as she began preparing the advancement chamber.

She had practically not been listening when Anneli warned her against using it. With what she said having gone in one ear and out the other.

Evelyn had already done far riskier things for power, and she was certain that she could absorb quite a bit more magical energy into her body.

Unlike most beings she had four things residing inside her that could absorb magical energy. With her human magic core, her beast core, the heavenly flame, and the Aethersphere all taking their own cut of what she brought into her body.

'I already know that I can take much more than some one with just one sort of core, so it should be fine as long as I do not pump this thing full with the purple magical crystals Mason left me.' Evelyn thought as she prepared the magical tool.

When everything was ready to go, she loaded in the five blue magical crystals that Melisandre had left her along with five of her own from Mason.

'From what Anneli said it seems that Melisandre wants me to reach the next tier within the fiend best rank quickly. Therefore, I can assume that she left the right number of magical crystals to help me do so. But I also want to strengthen the human magic core I have as well so I will be using some extra.'

After she had finished getting everything ready, she entered the large chamber and sat in the middle of it and waited.

Within a minute she felt the device beginning to work as it broke down the magical energy stored within the crystals and pumped it into the enclosed space of the chamber.

Immediately Evelyn could feel the shift in the amount of magical energy in the air and she breathed it in and felt it being dispersed throughout her body.

It was the first time she had been in an area of such quality magical energy, and it gave her a slightly euphoric feeling.

But she was not done yet. She quickly applied the necessary oil to activate the foundation technique that would allow her to strengthen her magic core as well.

As she did this the Aethersphere like always began to act on its own, sucking the ambient magical energy towards her and bringing it into her body especially quickly.

This not only strengthened her magic core but her beast core as well, as she brought in greater quantities of magical energy than should have been possible.

'Ah I can really feel the magical energy enhance me. It has been a while since I felt anything remotely like this.'

She then closed her eyes and began to slowly drift off to sleep since all she needed to do now was allow the Aethersphere to keep sucking in magical energy for her, and she could rest easy while this happened.

Yet within just a couple of hours she woke back up and noticed that all of the ambient magical energy was gone.

'Damn, I guess I am more efficient than I thought, or maybe those magical crystals hold less energy than I was excepting.' Evelyn thought as she realized she had already absorbed everything.

Still, if she had already absorbed everything, she needed only add more. And this time she decided to try increasing the output and added in two of the red magical crystals that Mason had left her.