An Owl's Rise

"So, Aralee, what is this map you have here? I am certain that we did not have any magic items like it when we entered this place." Evelyn said, looking curiously at the map.

"Oh, this is something I got out of one of the terminals I cam across. It cost me a hundred iron tokens to buy, but it has been a great boon in exploring the maze. In fact, without it, I never would have found you." Aralee said.

She then explained that the map would show within a short radius both enemies and allies.

For allies they appeared on the map as blue dots and for enemies they appeared as red. This is how Aralee came across Evelyn. She had gotten close enough to her that she appeared as a blue dot on the map and Aralee went to investigate.

"That sounds pretty powerful. Using this map, you never have to worry about getting ambushed." Evelyn said, thinking about how much easier her journey through the maze would have been with one.

"Well, it is certainly useful, but it is not that impressive. It only shows me the location of enemies if they are not trying to conceal themselves. I am sure that you have noticed most of the creatures here are very adept at hiding within the maze."

Nodding her head, Evelyn could not count the number of times she had been ambushed. It was far rarer to come across one of the maze monsters just wandering around.

"Still, I am surprised you did not find something like this. I have found the same type of map in two other terminals I checked. I suppose that it must be rarer than I thought, and I just got lucky." Aralee said, looking back down at the map with gratitude in her eyes.

However, Evelyn pursed her beak together and felt a sense of regret and embarrassment coming over her.

She had not even once considered that there might be items that helped to navigate the maze within the terminals. Instead, she passed each one by and did not even consider looking at the contents, figuring that they were just valuable items to help her advance. Not to mention she had not bothered to pick up any iron tokens to begin with in her reckless search for her companions.

'I really should have trusted them more. In terms of attack power Aralee is the weakest of us, yet she is doing so much better here than I have.' Evelyn thought, realizing that losing her cool had been the worst possible thing she could have done.

Her friends and siblings may not have been as powerful as she was other than perhaps Otis, but that did not mean they were helpless. All of them had trained hard and grown their magical energy in order to get stronger.

"Actually, now that I am more focused, you have breached into the high tier of the awakened rank haven't you Aralee." Evelyn said, noticing the distinctly more powerful aura that her sister was giving off.

Beaming happily, Aralee nodded her head and told Evelyn about the powerful limit breakthrough elixir she had found in one of the terminals.

"It felt quite a bit like using the magic spring once I had drunk it. My body was filled with an immense amount of magical energy, and I pushed past the last hurtle into the high tier." Aralee said proudly.

Evelyn continued to ask Aralee more about her time in the maze and learned about several things that she had not known due to her frantic state of mind after being separated from everyone else.

The most important part of the information was that the maze would change over time. Pathways that were once there would be gone and new ones would appear. Plus, an area that had already been traveled through could suddenly be filled with a great deal of monsters.

"It does not happen all that often at least. I have only come across such an occurrence four times so far. The map does not show when something has changed if you are outside the fifty-meter radius of where it can gain new information, but when you return to an area, if it has changed the map will update then." Aralee explained.

Staring at the map, Evelyn only began to feel worse and worse about how poorly she had approached this maze. It was an incredibly dangerous place, but she had tried to just muscle through it with her powerful magic, only to exhaust herself and get caught in a trap that nearly killed her.

'I do not have the right to call myself a reliable big sister anymore.' Evelyn thought, hanging her head low.

Aralee noticed this and titled her head curiously, wondering why Evelyn looked so down.

"What is wrong sister?" Aralee asked.

"I am a failure as a leader and elder sibling. I am supposed to be the one protecting all of you, but I failed miserably. You have made so much more progress here than I have." Evelyn said, sighing deeply.

"That's just because I have gotten lucky!" Aralee asserted. "I have not had to deal with a creature as powerful and dangerous as that dream flower. I don't think I could have beaten it in a fight even while avoiding its dream fog. You were amazing, being able to crush the monster even after being trapped under its spell for so long.

Seeing her little sister defending her from her own self-deprecation made Evelyn smile. Despite how much she had messed up, Aralee still thought the world of her.

'I guess I need to shape up from this point to make sure that I live up to her expectations.' Evelyn thought, feeling her mood improving.

Her goal was still to meet up with the others, but now Evelyn could think more calmly and was not going to rush around without any direction or plan. She just needed to trust in her compassion and believe that they could handle things on their own for the time being.