An Owl's Rise

"Evelyn what have they been teaching you in your classes? Some of the first things we learned about were the halls and their functions. And among them the Ranking Hall is one of the most important." Rehni said.

Tilting her head, Evelyn was the one who was a bit confused now.

Anneli had told her that the Ranking Hall was not all that pertinent to her, but now Rehni and Bylur were saying it was a fundamental hall she should have known about.

"Hm, most of my classes have been about controlling my magical energy, learning how to fight with magic, and alchemy. I know about the halls I have been in, such as the Mission Hall and Inscription Hall, but I do not really know much about the Ranking Hall other than its name. What exactly is its purpose?"

After hearing that Evelyn's education upon entering the Roost was so much different than theirs, both Rehni and Bylur could only stare at Evelyn in stunned silence.

Since the moment they had arrived at the Roost they had been placed into a class of owls that were at the same rank and tier and taught many different types of lessons.

They had learned the areas within the Roost such as the major halls, how to use spend credits in order to use the facilities around the Roost, the geography of the places that were under the Roost's control outside the separate dimension, and plenty else.

Yet it seemed that Evelyn was not receiving this standardized education that should be taught to new members of the Roost.

Instead, what she had learned was mostly highly focused topics and only the bare minimum of what she needed to get around the Roost.

"Wait, are you not enrolled in one of the Roost's classes for teaching new members?" Bylur eventually asked, finding it hard to believe that Evelyn could have received such different teaching from everyone else.

"No, I have never attended anything that could be considered a new member class. Melisandre and her attendants have been teaching me what I need to know personally."

"You are to say that you are not a part of a class. But I thought that all owls below the tyrant rank were required to be enrolled?" Rehni said with a befuddled expression.

Evelyn, seeing that their common sense was vastly different, asked Rehni and Bylur to elaborate.

And as they did, she realized just how different she was to almost every other owl in the Roost.

Normally when joining the Roost new owls were placed into a class based on their rank and taught the relevant knowledge they would need to advance and live in the Roost.

These classes also served as a place where the new owls could forge bonds of comradery.

Except, instead of being placed into one of these classes, Evelyn had mostly received personal instructions from Melisandre.

"I see What you have described is quite a bit different than what I have experienced here. I rarely have any contact outside Melisandre and her attendants. With the others being those owls that work at the halls I have been to. In fact, I would say that you two are the only ones that I have any sort of friendly relationship with that are around my rank."

Once Evelyn finished explaining her circumstances, both Bylur and Rehni now realized just how isolated she was.

For the most part she stayed cooped up in Melisandre's mansion, and when she was not there, she was either in the alchemy hall or out gathering materials.

"To think someone as amazing as you does not have any companions or followers." Rehni said out loud absentmindedly.

From her point of view Evelyn had seemed like a blazing beacon of strength that anyone would want to follow.

But now that she knew more about her circumstances, she realized that Evelyn was practically cut off from the rest of the Roost.

Of course, it was not as if Melisandre had kept her locked up, it was just that Evelyn was not one to ever seek out others on her own.

"I suppose with how strong you are, you are not in need of the Roost's usual teachings. But anyway, we have gotten off topic from what we really wanted to ask you about." Rehni eventually said.

Following up Bylur jumped in and explained what the main reason why wanted to meet with her was.

"To tell you the truth we were hoping you would become the leader of our team and help us rise up the ranks in the Ranking Hall. I know that you are way stronger than either of us, but we could not think of anyone better to team up with."

Pursing her beak together Evelyn thought about what this offer would entail.

"While I can gather what the ranking hall is to a certain degree from its name and what you have told me, there is still much I need to know before agreeing. First and foremost, what merit is there to it?"

Elated that Evelyn had not turned them down, Rehni enthusiastically told Evelyn everything she knew about the Ranking Hall.

"Hm, I believe I understand now." Evelyn said after Rehni finished explaining.

To summarize, the Ranking Hall was where owls of the same rank could do battle to earn accolades and rewards.

Those that rose high up the ladder received better rewards and could even get scouted by a higher-ranking owl to become a servant or apprentice if they caught anyone's eye.

One could say it was a place where ambitious owls could further themselves quickly.

However, it was not without its dangers.

During the fights it was possible to end up dead or crippled. Even if it was frowned upon to cause permanent injury.

The rankings were also separated into three different groups. With their being rankings for individuals, teams made up of three, and factions which were far larger organizations made up of up to several hundreds of owls.

This system was in place to promote growth through battle and to make sure that the owls of the Roost did not get complacent.

So long as there were challenges to overcome, plenty would rise to the occasion to do so. Especially when there were valuable rewards to be had.

"For both the individual and team rankings getting into the top five thousand promises a reward of two hundred thousand credits each month. So long as they can keep their rank. As for higher rankings, I know that the number of credits goes up by a hundred thousand for each thousand ranks you ascend, but past that the rewards are not explicitly known. I have heard though from an acquaintance whose brother was in the top nine hundred that he received fifty red magic crystals along with the credits and several hours within a premium advancement chamber. I am sure that those at a higher ranking receive even more amazing rewards." Rehni said passionately.

Evelyn on the other hand was not really tempted by any of these rewards.

For credits, she could gather them faster by simply focusing on alchemy and selling whatever she makes. And while red magic crystals were valuable, it was not like they were that hard to obtain and could be bought with credits. As for access to an advancement chamber, Evelyn could use the one in Melisandre's mansion, and her finding the stable magic spring actually made it fairly useless until she reached the tyrant rank anyway.

Still, she was a bit interested since perhaps those closer to the top could expect rare items that were hard to come by as rewards rather than things that could simply be bought.

'On one hand I do want to gain them both as allies since I already know I can trust them to a degree. But it seems that the merit of participating is not all that high. For me at least. Participating would also bring me to the attention of the other owls of the Roost, which I have been trying to avoid. If I was to fight, I would need to refrain from using my heavenly flame or gravity magic and stick only to wind.'

Going back and forth, Evelyn was having a tough time making a definitive decision on whether she should join Bylur and Rehni as a team.

If she did it would be a good way to get combat experience with them and further grow their bond. She knew as much as she did not want to that gaining allies was a necessity.

Sometimes things were simply too difficult to accomplish on your own and you needed help.

Nevertheless, she did not really want to garner any attention if she could help it.

In the end, she could not come to a decision immediately.

"Before I commit to anything I should ask Melisandre for her opinion. I am not saying no, but I will need her to weigh in on this before I can agree."

Not receiving a definitive answer both Rehni and Bylur's expression turned disheartened.

Evelyn had seemed to show a fair amount of interest, and they were hoping to secure her cooperation.

At the very least, she had not turned them down. Plus, depending on what Melisandre said, she might still join them as a member of their team.