An Owl's Rise

Once Melisandre was finished telling Evelyn about the other floors of the alchemy hall, the lift that would take them back to the top floor had arrived.

When they made their way back Melisandre led Evelyn straight to one of the rooms and opened it up without knocking.

However, while Evelyn had thought this would disturb whoever was inside, it appeared that they were waiting and smiled at Melisandre as she entered.

'Another humanoid owl!' Evelyn thought in surprise.

She had barely seen any other owls that had attained a humanoid form, but here was another one right in front of her.

This one had wine red hair that was held up in a bun that exposed her non-human looking ears, and she had sharp features that made her look like the intellectual type.

Her piercing eyes also settled on Evelyn, and she shuddered a bit as she saw how intently they were appraising her.

"Oh, is this your new disciple Melisandre. I am surprised that you have taken on a high-tier fiend beast. Are they not a bit slow to keep up with you?"

It was clear that this other humanoid owl was insinuating that Evelyn was not very smart, but that was actually the norm for most beasts at her rank. Only having the intelligence of younger human kids.

"Quite the opposite Annalise. She is very bright and picks up on things just as well as an awakened beast. Her intelligence is truly remarkable." Melisandre said with pride.

Natrually, she had already seen Evelyn's craftiness during her trials, and further witnessed her unusual intelligence since welcoming her into her home.

"I see. Well, there must be many extraordinary things about her if you decided to pick her as your disciple after refusing so many." Annalise said while continuing to stir the content of her cauldron.

Noticing this Evelyn fixed her gaze on the caldron and saw that it was filled with a green and purple liquid that were swirling together and slowly mixing.

However, it was also filled with the most magical energy she had ever sensed, and she could only wonder what Annelise might be making here.

"This is certainly a high-quality accelerated awareness potion. What creature's grey matter did you use in it?" Melisandre said as she examined Annelise's potion.

It appeared that she had completely forgotten that she was here to introduce Evelyn to her college and friend, and instead went straight into research mode.

Luckily Annelise remembered that Evelyn was still here and using her sidestepped answering Melisandre's question.

"Melisandre, I think you should save questions like that for later. You still have not properly introduced me to your new disciple." Annelise said as she nudged her head towards Evelyn who was standing by the entrance stiffly.

Snapping her head back, it was as if Melisandre had completely forgotten about her, and she looked a bit embarrassed that she had left Evelyn without properly introducing her.

"Sorry about that." Melisandre said to Annelise while motioning Evelyn over. "This here is Evelyn, my new disciple as your already know. Her talents are a true cut above the rest and one day I am sure she will be one of the strongest owls in the Roost.

Hearing this Annelise raised an eyebrow and looked at Melisandre in surprise.

It was incredibly high praise, and it would normally be an over exaggeration to say that about only a high tier fiend beast.

Yet, Annalise could see that Melisandre was completely serious, and this made her truly look at Evelyn with an abondance of curiosity.

"Would you mind her showing me why you are so invested? I want to see exactly what Evelyn has that makes her so valuable." Annelise said with a sharp glint in her eyes.

It was as if she was ready to measure Evelyn's worth, which on made the subject of her staring shrink back towards Melisandre.

'No, I do not want to be anyone else's research subject!' Evelyn thought as she saw the look in Anneliese's eyes.

They were similar to how the human researchers had looked at her. Though at least Annelise was not looking at her as only an object of study but still another living being.

"I am afraid that will have to wait. She still needs more training before I am comfortable letting her use her magic in front of others. Anyway, you would not want her losing control and ruining your brew."

Looking down at her cauldron and then towards Evelyn, it seemed that Annelise was now wary and was more than happy to relent on seeing Evelyn's powers.

"So, did you just come here today to introduce your new disciple, or is there something else?" Annelise asked after string in silence for nearly a minute.

"Ah, you have seen through me. Actually, there is something else I would like you to do for me." Melisandre said as she took out a slip of paper and handed it to Annelise.

She quickly read it and then looked at Evelyn with a large smile.

"Sure, I can do that, but you are going to have to do something for me. I am running low on frostwurt root and need some more. If you can give me, say three. I will do as you have requested." Annelise said with a very bossiness like look.

It seemed like Melisandre and her friend did this quite often, as Melisandre slipped right into a serious negotiation mode.

"I will give you one. No way I am going to give you three frostwurt roots just for this. You know how rare they are."

The two of them went back and forth in their negotiations, until Melisandre accepted to give her two of these so called frostwurt roots.

"Oh, looks like it is done now." Annelise said not long after she had finished negotiation with Melisandre.

Quickly she stopped stirring and ceased the flame under the cauldron.

She then fished the continents out of the cauldron and poured it into three sizable jars, before going over and placing it on a shelf that looked red hot.

"They need to stay fairly warm for a few more hours before they stabilize completely. That is why she is putting them on that heated shelving." Melisandre explained before Evelyn could even ask.

Nevertheless, she was still confused by all of what was going on as the two owls that were adept at alchemy had been using tons of technical terms she did not understand.

'I suppose I will just have to bear with it until I learn. There are still so many things I simply do not know.' Evelyn thought with a slight sigh.

After that Annelise sat down with Melisandre and Evelyn and the three of them chatted for a few minutes.

Of course, it was mostly just Melisandre and Anneliese talking, but Evelyn answered some questions and put in a little input where she could.

"You were right Melisandre. She really is quite intelligent. I do not believe I have ever spoken to a fiend beast before that could converse this well." Annelise said with a look of surprise.

She understood that Melisandre had said she was smart, but Evelyn was easily as intelligent as an awakened beast and beyond thanks to her past life as a human.