An Owl's Rise

\'So that is the leader of the Roost, huh.\'

Having gotten through such a nerve-racking meeting Evelyn thought back to what she had learned and ruminated on it.

"Well, I am beat after that. How about we get something to eat and unwind." Melisandre suggested.

A smile forming on her face, Evelyn agreed, and the two of them soon found themselves in the kitchen with Melisandre making something personally.

"Wow this is really good. You brought out the quality meat today." Evelyn said in between stuffing her face.

She was certain that this was by far the best food she had eaten ever.

"I am glad you are enjoying it. That is from my own personal stock and came from a tyrant rank boar type beast. Make sure not to overindulge though, it could make you sick if you eat too much"

Evelyn hearing this stopped eating, with food still half hanging out of her mouth, and looked down in shock.

Never in her wildest dreams did she believe that she would just be casual eating the meat from a being that was an entire rank above her.

She then swallowed with an audible gulp and looked towards Melisandre for answers.

"Did this really come from a tyrant rank beast?"

"Yes, it most certainly did. I killed it on my last foray into the open world when I was searching for items I need to evolve. Normally a newly evolved awakened beast would not be able to consume this without absorbing too much magical energy, but I figured that you could take it and that it would be quite the treat."

Seeing that Melisandre was not kidding around, Evelyn once again looked down at the food before her in disbelief.

"Oh, are you not going to continue eating? Especially when I made something so special for you." Melisandre said with a fake hurt expression.

However, while she seemed to be playing around to help ease their earlier tension, Evelyn became quite serious.

"Melisandre, I know you told me you would explain more about how you and other beasts have humanoid forms when I reached the peak of the awakened rank. But after seeing the leader of the Roost transform before my eyes, I really feel as if I need to know."

With Evelyn changing the atmosphere around them with how serious she was, Melisandre sighed and nodded her head.

"Yes, I suppose it would not hurt. In light of everything you have told me, I suppose this is not much." Melisandre said as she stood up.

In an instant she went from looking like a human with owl wings to suddenly being a sixty-foot-tall owl.

Even in the room with such a high ceiling she had to duck down, and it was clear that she was barely able to fit.

"As you have likely surmised, the form you have seen me in is not my only one. That is not to say that either of my forms is not the real me, they both are."

After saying this Melisandre shrunk back down into her humanoid form and retook her seat across from Evelyn, who was sitting there with her mouth agape in astonishment.

"Impressive is it not. When I evolved into a tyrant rank beast many years ago, I was able to take this humanoid form."

"So, it really is a requirement to become a tyrant beast to have a humanoid form. Do all tyrant beasts get one?" Evelyn said as she eyed the boar meat before her.

As much as she loathed humans for all they had taken from her in both lives, as a former human she felt that she would not be able to stomach eating anything that held a humanoid form.

"No, not all beasts gain a humanoid form when they evolve into a tyrant beast. Though if it is possible there are no downsides and plenty of advantages to it. So, most beasts in an organization like ours aim for it."

Nodding her head, Evelyn could see how the humanoid form could be useful, at the very least in terms of space and limbs that are easier to work with.

Creating places large enough to accommodate massive sixty-foot-tall beasts like Melisandre would be quite difficult. And when she took into account the size of the Roost\'s leader, beasts of that size would need massive hallways just to move about.

"I think I understand a bit. But other than your size and shape, what other benefits are there? Honestly speaking, I am conflicted about ever having a humanoid form again."

Melisandre frowned at this. She remembered all the horrible things Evelyn had told her happened at the hands of humans, and ow she vehemently denied ever wanting to be one again.

"As for the benefits other than being able to fit in smaller spaces, it does allow us to infiltrate human settlements when the need arises. It can certainly be a pain to hide our wings and ears, but plenty of humans wear baggy cloaks to hide themselves anyway, so we do not stand out much if we prepare properly. Also, while it is not the same as the magic core you have that is identical to a human\'s, I along with any other beast that took this path of evolution gain a pseudo magic core that gives us more magical energy. It does not allow for us to learn new affinities like you can, but extra magical energy is always useful."

After hearing Melisandre\'s explanation, Evelyn pursed her beak together and thought long and hard about this.

"Since I already have a magic core, I would not need to follow the evolution that gives me a humanoid form, right. I already shrunk when I evolved so I might not end up gigantic anyway. I think if I can, I would like to avoid ending up begin humanoid again." Evelyn said a resolute expression.

Hearing this Melisandre\'s face that had been fairly neutral turned into a frown, and she looked at Evelyn with a glimmer of pity in her eyes.

"I am sorry Evelyn, but I doubt that you are going to be able to do so. You already have a magic core, and your soul is that of a human. I would not be surprised if you only path forward is to gain a humanoid form. Normally in order to evolve like this a beast would need a compatible magic core from a human, but you already have one that is fully apart of you."

Evelyn began grinding her beak as she heard this. She truly wanted nothing to do with humans again and was afraid that gaining a humanoid form would bring up bad memories, or maybe even to an aversion to herself.

In the end though, it was something she just had to accept and decided to worry about it later when the time came.

\'I have to get stronger to accomplish my goals. If I become humanoid again to do so, it will not matter. Heck even if I have to become a completely monstrous being I have steeled myself to push forward.\'

With her thoughts quickly coming back into order, Evelyn decided she had learned enough about this topic and turned her attention to one of the factors that had led her to explore this thread.

"Melisandre, so was this boar humanoid?" Evelyn asked as she eyed the food before her warily.

"No, it was not. I do not doubt it was intelligent, but I killed it in one blow before it noticed. Frankly thinking about things like that is bad for your health. Now go ahead and enjoy. This was supposed to be a relaxing meal to get our minds off of troubling matters."

Nodding her head, Evelyn took Melisandre\'s advice and did not think too heavily about the food she was eating.

When they were finally finished, she still had something on her mind about tyrant rank beasts and humans but determined to table those for now.

She could tell that Melisandre was just as tired as her and really did not want to delve into such heavy topics right now.

"I think now is a good time for both of us to go get some rest. You have still only recently recovered, and suddenly having to go meet with the leader of the Roost is bad for my heart. Make sure you relax well since tomorrow we will begin your alchemy training anew. Now that you have evolved you are ready to work with higher grade materials and learn to make more powerful brews. Then after that I think it would be a good idea for you to go out gathering materials again. You are pretty low on credits and supplies and fighting beasts in the wilds will help you to better understand just how much stronger you have gotten." Melisandre said.

With that the two of them went their own ways for the day, and Evelyn now had the anticipation of continuing her alchemy training to occupy her thoughts.

\'I wonder what we are going to be using. Up to this point I have only really been working with lower grade potions that use fiend beast materials and items that form in places with lower magical energy. Perhaps I will even get to learn how to make potions that can regrow limbs.\'

Her thoughts filed with alchemy now, Evelyn settled down and pulled out the basic books she already had and reviewed for the remainder of the day. Despite Melisandre telling her to relax.