An Owl's Rise

Once Evelyn had finished eating with everyone else, she could feel that her strength had mostly returned to her.

She now felt better than she had in what seemed like an eternity.

Accepting that she could form close relations with others and rely on those that she trusted had helped her move on from the immense fear and pain she had experienced.

Of course, the scars were not gone, she would bear those for the rest of her life. But at the very least they did not ache nearly as much.

"Now go get some good rest and be prepared to get back to work tomorrow. You have been out of commission for three days and have gotten behind." Melisandre said with a smile after they had finished dinner.

Doing just that she returned to her room which she found had been cleaned after she had made a mess with the potions her body had rejected.

'I will need to thank Anneli and Katrina for that later.' She thought as she moved to her usual perch and fell asleep.

And while she had technically been out for nearly two days, she had certainly not gotten any restful sleep and went out like a light.

Upon waking the next day, she got right back to work on making alchemical items. Her new store was poised to open the next day and she needed to make sure that she had a decent stock ready.

'I am practically out of credits and really need to make some sales. Come on and stir faster.' Evelyn thought as she made a batch of middle grade healing potions.

Naturally she made sure to water them down to make more with a lower effectiveness since her heavenly flame allowed her to make better potions than should have been possible for her level.

By the days end she had made the minimum quota of pills, potions, and salves that she had set as her goal.

Still, she was certain that it would be enough for the first day.

Unlike on the first floor there were far better shops on the second but also fewer. Most of the owls that made their purchases there had regular shops they always used and would not even glance at Evelyn's.

There was no point in buying cheaper potions if the quality was bad so new shops on the second floor saw only a little business until it was assured that their products were quality.

'It might take a couple of weeks, but I am sure that word will get out eventually. Everyone sniffs out where the good deals are in time.' Evelyn thought as she reviewed the pricing list that Anneli and Katrina had helped her put together.

The two of them were very familiar with how things worked on the second floor and had even run their own shops there until recently.

However, now that they had reached the tyrant rank, they had closed their shops down and were learning new skills from Melisandre before starting up again.

With one last satisfied look at the hundreds of bottles she had stacked up on numerous shelves Evelyn headed off to bed once again and with a giddy feeling fell asleep.

When she woke up the next day, she felt a level of excitement welling up inside her as well as a bit of nervousness.

This was going to be her first day selling products on the second floor of the Alchemy Hall and she was looking forward to it.

'Okay everything is stored away and ready to go. All I need to do now is head on out.'

Leaving Melisandre's mansion Evelyn flew down the length of the massive tree until she came to the entrance of the second floor.

Like all the entrances it was guarded by a pair of owls, but these ones were at the peak of the awakened rank and quite imposing.

'I heard that just the base line for guards at the peak of the awakened rank is five hundred thousand credits a month. Sometimes it makes me wonder if I took up the wrong profession when I could make a lot just sitting around all the time.' Evelyn thought as she looked at the guards.

As were their jobs, they stopped Evelyn who was trying to enter the hall before it opened but let her through easily enough once she showed her credentials.

She then went by the floor's supervisor and registered herself as the owner of a new store.

"Your shop is located near the southwest corner and is number six hundred fifty-two. Good luck on your first day." The supervisor said waving Evelyn off once she was completed her registration.

Hopping out of the office, she took to the air and began flying towards her new shop.

'Looks like Melisandre was right. My spot really is about as bad as they get.' She thought when she landed in front of her new storefront.

Unlike on the second floor where she had been given what could be an exemplary first location, on the second floor strings were not as easy to pull since fewer shops shut down with no warning like on the first floor.

Evelyn was having to start out like all the rest of the new arrivals and was being given a place that was far from the entrance or in the back where the best shops normally were located.

Nevertheless, she was determined to make the best of it and began setting up her sign along with what she was going to be selling.

'Just basic items like healing potions, magical energy recovery pills, and antidotes at first. No one is going to buy the more expensive and high-end items from me until I have proven that my basic brews are good.' Evelyn thought while she set out bottle after bottle.

And while she set up her store the owl who ran the one next to hers came flying by to check her out. A deep scowl on their face.