An Owl's Rise

Receiving the message that the hellfire rose she had been waiting on had finally been acquired Evelyn flew out of her room in a hurry.

She was feeling a create sense of elation now that she would finally be able to progress again.

The last few weeks had been spent doing practically nothing but lounging about, and while she had enjoyed the break at first, restlessness had soon overtaken her.

Her drive to push froward that she had already ingrained into herself was always in the back of her mind and she felt on edge being unable to do anything.

'But now I can finally fix that. Melisandre told me there was a good chance I would die, but I just have to keep going on with the hope I will make it through this.'

Soon enough Evelyn made it to the mission hall where the hellfire rose was waiting for her.

'Wow it is beautiful.' Evelyn thought when she saw it.

It was currently being held in a clear crystal container that was keeping the flower from degrading.

A top the rose where its petals should have been, instead were dark red flames that flickered around.

Its thick green stem was covered in yellow thorns that were clearly extremely hot as they were glowing with a faint light. Like a piece of metal that had just come out of a furnace.

Along with these characteristics the hellfire rose was also far larger than any type of flower Evelyn had seen in her previous life.

It stood a whole fifteen feet tall and the flower atop it was several feet wide.

'I am not getting the same feeling I got from the float stone or the wind pearl since it is incased in crystal, but it certainly has the appearance of a rare material.'

Satisfied with the hellfire rose that had been presented to her Evelyn stored it along with the case into her storage cuff and finished the record detailing the request's completion.

Then once she had left the mission hall, she booked it back to Melisandre's estate at full speed with a great sense of anticipation.

'I finally have everything I need to evolve. Certainly, it may be the end of me due to my damaged cores, but I at least can try.'

When she arrived, Melisandre was already waiting for her at the front entrance. Having received a message earlier from Evelyn.

"Can I see the wind pearl, float stone, and hellfire rose. I want to confirm their quality before we attempt this. From the deeper studies I have delved into regarding your current condition, the better the catalysts used apparently the greater chance of success."

Evelyn nodded her head and did as Melisandre requested. Pulling out the three items that she would be using.

She still had the wind pearl that had originally triggered the Aethersphere giving her all manner of knowledge on similarly ranked items and the other two she would need. Along with that the piece of float stone she would be using had been picked out for quite sometime now. And finally, there was the hellfire rose that she had just obtained.

Melisandre painstakingly examined all of them and checked for any sort of damages or impurities.

"Well, the wind pearl and hellfire rose are pretty good. Though not the absolute best I have ever seen, they should be good enough quality. The float stone however, I believe is exceptional. I have not seen very much of it even in my time, but I have done some extra reading up on it and believe this is quite high quality."

With Melisandre's approval of the items Evelyn placed them back into her storage cuff and began to follow her master.

Apparently, she had set up a special place for Evelyn to evolve that would help her chances.

'Last time when I went from a wild beast to a fiend beast I simply sat in a nest. I wonder what Melisandre has prepared?' Evelyn thought while flying.

Soon enough they reached their destination which Evelyn recognized.

It was the training room where she had practiced how to use magic and fight.

Except there was now something entirely different sitting in the middle of the room.

'An advancement chamber?'

Seeing the familiar magical device sitting there Evelyn was a little taken aback. Wondering what it might be used for in this process.

There was also the question of what Melisandre had prepared one in this place when the one in either of their rooms should have sufficed.

"This one is a bit large if you have not noticed. Normally this would be unadvisable as it could disrupt the process and lead to a failed evolution, but I need to be there to manage your condition." Melisandre said, seeing Evelyn's confused expression.

She then pulled out six very small vial that each only had a single drop of liquid in them.

Yet each one of these drops were glowing gold and were reminiscent of the potion that Melisandre had given Evelyn and Bylur to heal their wounds.

"What are those?" Evelyn asked, unable to keep her eyes off the golden liquid.

It was far more vibrant than even the potion that Melisandre had given her, and she could feel an incredible amount of power from them even while still sealed.

"These are the main ingredient of the potion that I gave you before. Normally I would use one of them to create two dozen of the drops of life potion, but this time I am using them as is since their healing power is far greater undiluted. They cannot heal damage to the soul or your cores, but if during the evolution process your physical body becomes damaged these will fully restore you. No doubt about it. Even if my head were cut clean off, if one of these was applied within a few seconds I would be restored." Melisandre said, telling Evelyn just how powerful these little golden drops were.

"Melisandre are you sure? Those must be extremely valuable. Would the potion not be just as effective?" Evelyn asked in concern.

"No, the potion does not work as well if not consumed and is not as potent in general. During this process I am doing all I can to make sure you can survive. Anyway, these were a gift, so they cost me noting. If you do survive this though, you will need to thank the leader of the Roost personally, since she provided these to me at my request."

Gulping, Evelyn was now thinking about meeting the most powerful owl in the Roost.

Quickly her mind began racing about what they might be like or if they were going to except her.

"I think you would be better off worrying about surviving your evolution rather than meeting with the Roost's leader. This is not going to be easy no matter what and being unfocused for even a second could spell the end for you." Melisandre warned with a stern tone when she saw Evelyn's worried expression.

Hearing this from her, Evelyn shot up straight and nodded her head.

"Now let us begin. This could be a long and harrowing process, but at the end hopefully you will come out as an awakened beast with your cores recovered."