An Owl's Rise

To start the most noticeable difference was her size.

In contrast to most awakened beasts, she had not gotten larger as expected but instead was now back to only being around six feet tall.

Certainly, this was not unheard of, but it was quite rare for a fiend beast to shrink when going up to becoming an awakened beast.

This could clearly be seen in examples like Anneli and Katrina who were both around twenty-feet tall at the peak of the awakened rank.

However, before Evelyn could even get used to her new shape, a mass of energy released from her body in the form of a powerful gust of wind, a blaze of fire, and an expanding force of gravity.

This sudden blast caught even Melisandre off guard, and she was momentarily blown away from her position as the advancement chamber took the brunt of the hit and exploded.

The entire reinforced room shook under the immense pressure and cracks even began to ripple out around Evelyn.

Eventually the power she was releasing began to settle down, and when it did, she collapsed onto the ground unmoving.

Seeing this happened Melisandre rushed over towards Evelyn and began checking on her condition.

'She is alive.'

Relief washed over Melisandre as she confirmed that Evelyn was still breathing and had simply fallen unconscious.

Naturally she had ben through a lot dunging the lengthy process of evolving and her body had been destroyed and put back together again numerous times quite violently.

Many times she had come close to death during this process due to her damaged cores and the Aethersphere going out of control.

'Still, to think that she would shrink back down so much. Yet I sense that she is far stronger than before. And not just the magical energy within her, but also her body. I find it hard to believe that she is just a newly evolved awakened rank beast.' Melisandre thought as she picked Evelyn up.

Very gently she then flew through her estate and to Evelyn's room. Where she laid her down on the nest sitting atop the branch that jutted out of the middle of the room.

"Make sure you keep getting stronger and growing. I am expecting you to one day pay me back for everything I have invested into you today." Melisandre said as she brushed Evelyn's head and looked at her warmly.

After that she left Evelyn to rest and headed off to take care of a few things that would require her attention.

During this time, she slept like a rock until nearly a day had gone by and she began to stir.

However, before she fully awakened, she found herself back in a familiar place.

'Here again huh. I wonder what the problem is this time.'

Looking around, Evelyn found herself in the same open space she had when submerged in the miracle bath that had healed the damage to her soul and fixed her cores to the point where she was no longer dying from the damage they had sustained.

'Still look human. I guess that means that my soul really is the same as before and I am not just an owl that inherited these memories. Though that begs the question. How did my soul from another world end up in an owl?'

Unfortunately, Evelyn did not have the answer to this question and probably never would. So, instead of contemplating something she had no answers for, she tried to figure out why she was in what she had dubbed her 'inner world' again.

This time though she knew more about how this place worked and that it responded to her will.

Within an instance she appeared in front of the manifestation of her beast core and began examining it.

Thankfully it appeared to be fully fixed and was now teeming with a far more vibrant luster than before.

At the same time the Aethersphere which had seemed mostly inactive last time was now moving around far more animated than before. Even having one of the three rings surrounding it moving when they never had before.

'I guess it has managed to fix itself a bit more now. Or at least I hope this is what it means.' Evelyn thought with a pensive expression.

And almost as if the divine item could hear her thoughts, it directed a beam of light directly at her head and began implanting more knowledge into her.

Except unlike every time before it did not hurt her, and the information was given to her slowly enough to not cause any distress.

'I see, so that is what it really is. I suspected something similar. But the most important part is definitely the new power it has given me.'

Evelyn could not help but smile as she learned more about the divine item that had been apart of her for now most of her life as an owl.

True, it acting up had almost killed her multiple times now. But the power it provided was still great, and hopefully from this point it would not cause any more problems so long as she did not push it again.

'I can unpack everything I learned later. For now, I have one more thing to check on.'

Focusing on her magic core, Evelyn warped over to it within her inner world and examine it as well.

She wanted to make absolutely sure that the damage was fixed and would not be a problem in the future.

When she arrived what met her was a bit different than she was expecting. The core that had been light blue before was now completely crimson, and the heavenly flame that had been resting around it had now fully merged with the core.

Inside Evelyn could also swear she saw the heavenly flame taking the shape of a bird at times, but like all fires it was constantly in flux and moving around.

'I suppose this means that it has fully merged with my magic core. Before it was only attached, but now they are one and the same. I imagine that any attempt to remove it currently would certainly lead to my death. I need to be careful when using it around those that are extremely powerful or knowledgeable. Less I end up in a similar situation as with that empress dryad that led me to nearly dying.'

Now that she had checked up on everything within her inner world Evelyn felt a weight fall off her shoulders and the lingering fear that something might be wrong left her.

This acted as the trigger for her awakening, as she no longer had to worry that when she came back to conscious that something would still be wrong with her.

When she came to, she took a deep breath and flung her eyes wide open.

It had been several days since the last time she had been truly conscious and now her body and mind were being hit wit a bit of whiplash from all the changes she had undergone.