An Owl's Rise

Even with her impeccable eyesight Evelyn was barely able to keep track of the tiny creature that was attacking them.

By the time she had locked onto it, the little beast had appeared in front of Krunnen and unleashed its attack.

From out of its mouth a blast of fire engulfed Krunnen.

Watching this happen, Evelyn was shocked that such a small entity could unleash a blast of fire this large and with this much intensity. If she did not know better, she would have compared it to a dragon's breath.

However, what was attacking them was not a giant winged lizard, but an orange furred stoat that was only around thirty centimeters long.

After the stoat had finished launching its attack, it scurried back into the grass that it blended in with perfectly. Its fur was the same color, and its body was more than small enough to stay completely hidden within the tall grass.

'Damn, it got away. It's a fast little beast.' Evelyn thought as she watched the stoat disappear.

She had been stunned for just a moment since their opponent was a cute little stoat and was a bit late in counterattacking before it ran away. She had been expecting something a bit more menacing looking.

Still its power wasn't anything to scoff at. From the strength of its magical energy Evelyn figured that it was at the high tier of the awakened rank.

Nevertheless, it was weird that it had decided to attack them. Any sane beast at the stoat's level would never try to pick a fight with two peak awaken beasts that were a tier above it.

'What is it even thinking?'

While it had successfully hit them with a sneak attack, once the fires had died down, Krunnen was only lightly burned in a few places. His natural toughness plus the magical items he kept on himself to reduce the power of fire magic directed at him kept him from being seriously injuries by the stoat's attack.

"Do you need a healing potion? "I have plenty." Evelyn said.

"Thank you, but I have my own. Just keep an eye out for our attacker while I drink it and recover. It will definitely be back." Krunnen said taking out a bottle from his storage item.

Despite needing to keep a keen lookout for the stoat that had just attacked them, she could not help but let her eyes wander towards the potion Krunnen had just brought out.

The color of the liquid looked different from what she was used to seeing and clearly was of a different brew from the ones she knew. The alchemist in her that Melisandre had nurtured was dying to get her hands on the unknown potion and pick it apart until she knew what ingredients were used in it.

'No. Keep your eyes sharp. Krunnen sounded sure that the stoat would be back. If it is to make another attack, it will probably do so while Krunnen is drinking the potion.'

Shaking her head, Evelyn focused on the task at hand and kept her eyes and ears focused and used her wind magic to create a field where she could sense movement within the air.

It was a tiering technique but while she was using her detection magic, she was certain not to be caught off guard.

The instant Krunnen began to drink his healing potion, the stoat made its move as expected.

Evelyn turned towards the direction it was approaching the moment she sensed it enter the range of her wind detection magic.

As she had already experienced before, the little stoat was incredibly quick.

By the time she had turned to face it, the tiny beast was already only twenty meters away from Krunnen.

However, this time Evelyn was ready for it. She knew how fast it could move and had prepared accordingly.

She increased the gravity around her by several times and fired out a stream of flames behind her like a rocket.

In less than a millisecond she covered the distance between her and stoat.

Just before reaching her target Evelyn opened up her wings, lowered the gravity around her, and used her wind magic as both a cushion for herself and to blast the stoat against the ground and restrain its movements.

During her twenty-one months of training in the Verdant Warlord's domain she had practice maneuvers like this many times and had become an expert at accelerating swiftly and stopping just before crashing into obstacles. Along the way she had endured her fair share of bruises and broken bones, but the culmination of her experiences had enabled her to move far more precisely even at high speeds.

Now right on top of her enemy, Evelyn struck down with her claws and planned to pierce through the orange furred stoat's body.

Against larger beasts her talons were not particularly effective, but against this stoat the was only around thirty centimeters long, she would certainly rend it to pieces the moment she connected.

Before she hit though, the stoat's body crackled with energy and bolts of orange lightning shot out towards Evelyn.

Of course, she figured that it might have another trick up tis sleave and surrender her body in a magical energy barrier.

The orange lightning was powerful, but unfocused. It bounced off of Evelyn's magical energy barrier without putting a scratch on it.

Noticing that its attack had failed the stoat attempted to turn and flee, but it was already too late.

Its speed was certainly something to marvel at, yet it was not going to be enough to get away from Evelyn now that she was close.

Before the stoat got far, Evelyn had already switched her gravity field to increase gravity and hit the stoat with her gravity hammer magic.

The little beast found itself, crushed into the ground by a sudden immense force. While it was incredibly fast for its rank, the stoat lacked in toughness and strength. It was unable to properly resist Evelyn's gravity magic and could only sluggishly crawl away in vain.

When Evelyn approached it tried to blast her with its fire and lightning magic but found tis feeble attempt at resistance to be ineffective.

Evelyn raised her foot and effortlessly pierced into the stoat's body with her talons. Soon its struggling ceased, and the life faded from its body.

"I think that you really must be a magnet for trouble. To think that we would encounter an aberrant beast this far from the rift." Krunnen said with a sigh.

"You have mentioned that term before, but what does it mean? This stoat may have acted a little odd, but I didn't notice anything particularly unnatural about it." Evelyn said, wearing a confused expression.

Krunnen went on to explain that aberrant beasts were those that had spent too long within the vicinity of the elemental rift and absorbed some of its powers.

By doing so beasts gained greater power and an affinity for fire magic, but at a great cost. Over time they would lose their sanity and take on more characteristics of the elementals that poured out of the rift.

Unfortunately, most beasts did not realize the danger until it was too late and simply basked in the greater power, they could receive simply by living within the Inferno Field. Without specific knowledge of the phenomenon, most beasts lived their lives in blissful ignorance of the corruption from the elemental rift.