An Owl's Rise

Once the magic spring had finished being filled with magical energy, a half dozen burrowing owls with Otis among them, along with Bylur and Rehni entered the magic spring.

Evelyn had decided to refrain this time as well, since she needed Bylur and Rehni to get stronger more than increasing her own power.

Currently she felt confident that she could take on an average peak awakened rank beast in a one-on-one fight, but she knew that neither of her teammates were quite up to that level yet.

If they were going to end up in a team battle against three peak awakened rank owls, then she needed the two of them to at least be able to hold their own for a few minutes if they were to have any shot at winning.

'Well in the worst-case scenario I can always ask Melisandre for a couple items that beasts at our level cannot normally get ahold of in order to give us an edge.' Evelyn thought as she watched her friends and teammates absorb the magical energy within the spring.

At about the twenty-minute mark, Otis began to glow brightly, and it was clear that he was about to reach the peak of the awakened rank.

Seeing this all of the burrowing owls that were watching began to cheer as this marked the return to their former glory.

'He looks exactly the same. Though I suppose none of these burrowing owls ever look any different when they go up to the next tier. When he evolves to the tyrant rank, he is sure to change at least.'

With Otis having reached the peak of the awakened rank he exited the magic spring and began addressing all of the burrowing owls.

Evelyn was sure it must have been quite the rousing speech from all of the excited hoots she could hear occasionally, but she was not really interested in listening and instead kept her focus on Bylur and Rehni.

They had been pushing themselves to get stronger over the last month by consuming magically enriched plants and the beast cores of their prey, and now they were doing all they could to absorb magical energy from the spring.

However, before all of its magical energy was used up, they had to leave despite wishing to continue.

Their bodies had reached their limits and would need to adjust to the increased amount of magical energy they now had.

Tryign to move too fast would simply cripple them and lead them to being unable to wield their magical energy properly.

'If only it were possible to simply bombard oneself with magical energy infinitely it would be much easier to reach higher levels. We could simply use all the magical crystals we have obtained at once to boost ourselves straight to the peak of the awakened rank.' Evelyn lamented.

Nevertheless, everyone had a limit to how much magical energy they could take in at one time and she was no exception.

When she reached her limit the Aethersphere would take in all of the excess, but it was only doing that to repair itself.

Eventually all of the owls that had entered the magic spring had left, yet there was still magical energy left.

It having started to fill up ahead of the usual time had caused it to have more magical energy than normal and there was still a fairly sizable amount left.

"Lady Evelyn, if you so wish you can take the remaining energy within the spring." Otis said, beckoning Evelyn to use it.

"Thank you, Otis. Since there is some left over, I ill happily take it." Evelyn responded before entering the spring.

The moment she got in she felt all of the magical energy left in the spring being drawn towards her and she started absorbing it.

In a matter of minutes all the magical energy that had remained was drawn into Evelyn's body and she was one step closer to reaching the high tier of the awakened rank.

"Lady Evelyn, I realize that this may be impertinent of me as you are our savoir and benefactor, but a celebration is to be held now that I have reached the peak of the awakened rank. I was hoping that you might once gain grace us with that alchemical cooking once more?" Otis asked bashfully.

Apparently, all the burrowing owls that had tried her cooking were quite taken with it, and while she had shown some of them how to do it, they could not hold a candle to Evelyn.

"Sure, I do not mind. You and your people have accommodated us well and this is an easy enough request to complete. If you bring me the ingredients, I will make all of the burrowing owls a feast unlike any you have ever seen." Evelyn said, feeling herself starting to get swept up in the growing fervor.

Otis' advancement to the peak of the awakened rank was quite the achievement and cause for celebration unlike anything these burrowing owls had ever experienced.

Thanks to Evelyn they had finally managed to claw their way back up to a semblance of their former power, and their prospects were brighter than ever before thanks to her continued help.

Along with the owls she had already shown the basics of alchemical cooking to, Evelyn began work on the grand feat that the occasion demanded.

Rare ingredients that the burrowing owls had stockpiled were freely used, and two hunting groups flew out into the desert to bring back some fresh kills for Evelyn to use.

Hours went by as she made the food for the feast, utilizing every technique that Melisandre, Anneli, and Katrina had taught her.

When it was finally done a delicious smell wafted through the entire burrow.

All of the burrowing owls were waiting with anticipation in their eyes and had to hold themselves from jumping straight in as the food was passed around.

Otis then gave a few more rousing words and thanked Evelyn again, before the feast began.

The food went fast, and the burrowing owls lost pretty much all sense of decorum as they devoured what was in front of them.

For them this was a once in a lifetime experience and they were not going to waste it by taking any time to slow down and eat with any manners. At the end of the day intelligence or not, they were beasts.

Eventually the excitement around the celebration began to die down and all of the burrowing owls went back to their normal business. Many heading to bed while others had to go and stand watch through the day to be prepared in case of an attack.

"I believe that we should get some rest ourselves. Tomorrow we will be making our return to the Roost." Evelyn said to Bylur and Rehni.

The three of them quickly returned to their room and settled in for the day. They knew what was awaiting them when they returned thanks to Bylur and needed to be well rested to deal with it.

…

Upon waking the next evening Evelyn, Bylur, and Rehni said their farewells to the burrowing owls and promised to come back and see them again soon.

"Lady Evelyn, if things ever become too tough for you in this place where many owls gather, know that there is always a spot here for you. We will always welcome you with open wings should you need our assistance." Otis said before Evelyn took off.

"I will keep that in mind Otis. If that day ever comes, I am grateful to know that I have your support."

After that exchange Evelyn took off into the night sky and began flying back towards the Elmot Gorge where the nearest warp point to access the Roost was located.

Along the way she had them stop to speak with Lucia once again, and Evelyn received the list of items that she wanted procured and what she had to trade for them.

"It may take me a while obtain anything on your list, but once I have the time, I will see what I can get." Evelyn said.

"No need to rush. I know that what I am asking for is beyond what most awakened beasts can readily obtain. Even if it takes you several years to obtain just one of those items, I will not consider it having been a long wait." Lucia said with a reassuring smile.

Once their business had concluded Lucia descended back into the dark depths of the Elmot Gorge.

"Now we need only cross over and make our way to the warp point." Evelyn said, holding the ticket that was drawing them towards their destination.

In less than an hour they had reached the unspectacular area in the middle of a sprawling field where the warp point connected.

And activating their return tickets they were whisked away back towards the Roost. Returning far later than they had anticipated but with greater gains than they would have imagined.