An Owl's Rise

The next day when she woke up Evelyn was feeling astoundingly better.

She had been blasted, poisoned, and slammed around just a day ago, but already she felt nearly back to full health.

'I am not sure how much of it is from soup Lucia made or my own natural toughness, but my recovery really is pretty unnatural with how bad I was yesterday.' Evelyn thought while checking herself for any lingering wounds.

But other than the spots where she had been struck by the jellyfish tentacles that still had a slight discoloration, she had no visible injuries.

A few stretches later and she felt more limber and headed to the kitchen.

There she found Lucia already preparing something to eat, and Evelyn's mouth began watering.

"What might this be? I do not think I have seen or smelled meat like this before." Evelyn said as Lucia took off the meat she had been grilling.

She thought that it looked a little similar to chicken, though it was a bit darker in coloration and had a distinct scent to it that was different than any other bird she had smelled before.

"Oh, this is alligator." Lucia said nonchalantly.

Yet Evelyn remembered that what she had been told yesterday about how she was almost eaten by an alligator and asked if this was the same one.

"Yep. I had planned on it being my dinner yesterday but made the herb soup instead. I imagine that even though you ate a lot of it that you probably did not get truly full, so I made plenty for breakfast."

Once Lucia finished her explanation, she served up two large helpings. One for Evelyn and one for herself.

And while she may have looked like a refined lady, at the end of the day she was a canine type beast and tore the alligator meat to shreds with her sharp teeth.

"Wow this is good. Your cooking is easily the second best I have ever had. Only behind Melisandre's." Evelyn said absentmindedly while chowing down.

Yet when she mentioned her master's name, Lucia stopped eating and looked at Evelyn in shock.

"Do you know Melisandre?" Evelyn asked seeing the way Lucia had reacted.

Slowly she put down the piece of alligator she was eating and nodded her head.

"Yes, I do. My friend that was part of the Roost told me about some of the influential individuals from his home. Melisandre was one he talked about quite a bit, since his older sister was a friend of hers and a high-ranking member of the Roost's Alchemy Hall. I believe that her name is Annelise."

Upon hearing this name Evelyn racked her memories and soon recalled the one owl that Melisandre had introduced as a friend.

Of everyone in the alchemy hall she was the only one that had not acted subservient to Melisandre and treated her closer to an equal.

'I have not seen her since, but there is no doubt that I have met her.'

Once she was certain that they were thinking about the same person, Evelyn told Lucia that she had met Annelise.

"Melisandre is actually my master and introduced me to her. I did not know that she had a brother though." Evelyn said.

"I see, so she is at least still alive." Lucia said with a complicated expression.

Evelyn felt her heart strings begin pulled at when she saw this and offered to deliver a message to Annelise if Lucia wanted.

"No, it is fine. I have not seen her for over a century at this point, and we were not really close. I only met her a few times when she came with her brother to Astabala to do business. She was a higher rank than everyone in our group, so she did not really get involved. The day the city fell she was there though, so just knowing she survived is good news to me."

After saying this Lucia quickly changed the subject and began asking Evelyn about alchemy instead.

Lucia herself was a fairly skilled alchemist in her own right, though she did not have a fire affinity and had to use magic tools to supplement this shortcoming. And unfortunately, this meant she would always be limited in her abilities no matter how knowledgeable she became.

"That is reminds me. What affinity do you have? I assume it is light, but is it perhaps something else?" Evelyn asked, curiosity written all over her face.

Lucia, however, became guarded when asked about this. One's affinities were not something to be divulged easily.

"Why might you think I have a light affinity? I could have something like wind or maybe even life."

"No, I can tell it is neither of those. When you moved me out of your garden there was a brief flash of light. I figured that was what you used to move so fast."

Hearing Evelyn's logic, Lucia could only sigh and gave up on trying to hide her magical affinity.

"Yes, my only affinity is light. And you are right that it is the power I used to move you out of my garden. It seemed you were getting ready to blow up and take what you could with you when I found you."

With a regretful look on her face Evelyn apologized, since she really was going to blow up the garden if it came to it.

"Now I answered your question, therefore I think it only right you answer mine. What was that strange magic you used? It made me feel significantly lighter, but you also fell slower and bounced off the ground in a strange way I have never seen." Lucia said with interest.

'I suppose I can tell her. She did save me, and I probed about her magic first.'

Once she had resolved herself Evelyn told Lucia about her gravity magic and how it worked to the best of her knowledge.

She did of course leave out the parts about her gravity traps and extreme and reverse press abilities.

"I cannot say I fully understand, but it sounds like quite the powerful magic."

Lucia was genuinely impressed by how amazing Evelyn's magic was, and the two of them got into a friendly discussion about the fundamentals of magic and how they viewed their own affinities.

"You certainly have wisdom I would not expect from a newly evolved awakened beast. Were you perhaps an early bloomer when it came to intelligence?"

Evelyn pursed her beak together at this question.

She did not want to lie to Lucia, but the truth was she had been intelligent since the moment she had been born. Thanks to having fifteen years of living as a human before coming to this world.

"Yes, I gained true awareness before reaching the awakened rank. I am told it is rare but happens frequently enough to not be too big of a deal." Evelyn said.

She then switched the topic and asked Lucia what she wanted her to get as payment for having saved her.

"Ah yes, I suppose we have been talking for a while and the day is getting late already." Lucia said as she checked some sort of time telling magic tool she had.

"Before, when I said it is hard to get storage magic items, I was not lying. If you could get me a ring or band that can hold at least three thousand cubic meters, I would be most appreciative."

Blinking her eyes rapidly, Evelyn sat their frozen when she heard hat Lucia wanted.

Storage items were expensive, but the larger they got the more exponentially valuable they were, and the price went up to match.

'How much is this going to cost me. Five million credits? More? I did not even look at the prices for storge items that large, but they must be absurdly costly.'

Unfortunately, Evelyn owed her life to Lucia, and had come to like her. Meaning there was no way she would refuse this request.

"Very well. I am not sure how long it will take me to get one, but once I have amassed the number of credits I need, I will obtain one and bring it to you. But how will I find you again after I leave?"

Her mouth going wide, Lucia seemed to suddenly realize that this would be a problem.

A moment later she rushed back into the part of the cave system Evelyn had not been in, and a few minutes came back with a pendant.

"If you pour your magical energy into this it will send a signal to the receiver that I have. Its range is quite far, so as long as you are within the area of the Elmot Gorge I will pick it up. Once you have the storage item, you need only come back and activate it and I will come find you." Lucia said.

Giving a curt nod, Evelyn agreed to this method and placed the magic item into her storage cuff.

"Now what did you want to do. You are free to stay here a couple more days if you want to rest a bit longer." Lucia said with a hopeful expression creeping onto her face.

She had enjoyed Evelyn's company and was wanting her to stay a bit longer.

However, Evelyn had other things she needed to do and there was a time limit on the request that she had taken from the mission hall.

"Thank you for the offer, but I think it would be best if I left today. I need to head over to the nearby Velinis Desert and gather a few things there."

Her offer rejected; Lucia had a dejected expression for just a moment, before directing a smile at Evelyn.

"Very well, I understand. Give me a few moments to prepare and I will lead you safely out of the gorge. No point in you dying on your way out after I went through all of the trouble to save you."