An Owl's Rise

After her meeting with Yulbok, Evelyn said goodbye to Lizlul and headed outside of the fortress to collect some of the rare items that grew in the Inferno Field. She did not know how long she would have to wait, but she figured that she might as well use her time efficiently.

However, once nearly a week had gone by without any luck on Yulbok's part finding either a Sylphid's Tear or a Roc's foot Evelyn was about ready to give up and be on her way.

Yet, when she went to inform Yulbok of her decision, he unexpectedly had some good news for her.

"I finally managed to find someone that had a Sylphid's Tear in their possession. She is one of the highest-ranking members of the Great Shell and she told me that she would be willing to trade me the Tear. Though she was very insistent on meeting you in person.

Apparently, she won't give it up if you don't meet her standards, but I doubt that will be a problem seeing as how you beat a grand fire elemental while still only being a peak awakened beast." Yulbok said ecstatically. He had been working pretty hard to fulfill his end of the agreement he had with Evelyn.

Especially since for the last few days she had been continuing to help out by culling fire elementals and aberrant beasts.

"This is certainly a surprise. I was beginning to give up hope. But when say that the individual that has the Sylphid's Tear is part of your Great Shell's upper echelon, does that mean she is a peak sovereign rank beast?" Evelyn asked, wanting to gauge how strong this tortoise was.

"No, Lady Yinqwy is even more eminent. It was only in the last decade, but she has reached the calamity rank. Honestly, I was a bit surprised that she responded to my inquiry. Someone as powerful as her would normally not bother with a matter like this."

A bit confused, Evelyn asked if Yulbok had any connection to this Yinqwy, but he only shook his head in response. He had heard about her through reputation only. Among the members of the Great Shell, she was one of the top five most powerful and would not have any reason to bother with only a low tier sovereign rank like him.

Hearing this only made Evelyn more suspicious. Calamity beasts were among the strongest existences in the world. As Yulbok said, they usually would not even show interest in weaker sovereign beasts, so why would Yinqwy be so keen on meeting her when she was only an awakened beast.

'I still have the return talisman I got from the Verdant Warlord's Domain. It was created by a person that reached the true peak of this world, so it should be able to warp me back to the domain even if a calamity beast tries to interfere. If this Yinqwy turns out to be hostile, I will just use it to run away.' Evelyn thought, already preparing for the worst-case scenario.

Nevertheless, she could not resist the allure of receiving the last item she needed to evolve and agreed to the meeting. She was always risking her life in the pursuit of greater power anyway, so this was no different.

"Got it. I will set things up. It might take some time since Lady Yinqwy is almost always busy, but I am sure that I can arrange for you to meet with her within a half year at the latest." Yulbok said with a proud look on his face since he was able to fulfill his promise to Evelyn.

Except, she was far from ecstatic to hear that she would have to wait for several months. While most beasts at her rank would be many decades old, Evelyn's total age from both of her lives was only around twenty years. Her perception of time was not the same as centuries old beings like Yulbok and Yinqwy who thought of six months as almost no time at all.

Unfortunately, she knew that there was nothing she could do to expedite things. A calamity beast like Yinqwy would not hurry herself for Evelyn's sake.

"I understand that it will be a bit of a wait, but if you want, I can give you lucrative assignments to pass the time."

Of course, Yulbok was not making this suggestion completely out of the goodness of his heart. He wanted to continue using Evelyn's strength to clear missions that were assigned to him. So far, she had proved to be a dominant force in the Inferno Field. Her abilities matched up overwhelmingly favorably against the denizens of the Inferno Field that almost all used fire as their main weapon.

If he could keep her around forever, he honestly would.

"I have nothing else to do so I suppose I might as well keep busy. Just don't expect me to do anything for free." Evelyn replied. She could tell what Yulbok really wanted but had no reason to refuse as long as it still benefited her.

But to her surprise, the far-off meeting she had already put in the back of her mind was suddenly scheduled for the next day. Yinqwy had responded to Yulbok far faster than expected and was already on her way to the fortress with the Sylphid's Tear.

Naturally this only served to heighten Evelyn's worries. She was afraid that Yinqwy might have deduced that she possessed a heavenly flame and was on her way to claim it. Evelyn could not think of any other reason why a calamity rank beast would move so quickly to meet with her.

'Should I just run away before she arrives. Argh, but then I will be giving up my chance on getting the Sylphid's Tear. I just will have to keep the return talisman hidden in my mouth and ready to be used at any moment.' Evelyn thought, working up her courage to meet with Yinqwy despite her misgivings.

For the next two hours she nervously waited in the meeting room that had been prepared. Every second her senses were on high alert for any sort of disturbance.

Eventually she noticed a single presence approaching the room.

When the door opened, Evelyn was surprised to see Lizlul guiding a beautiful woman with deep blue hair.

'I could not sense her at all.' Evelyn thought, a pit of dread in her stomach. She had been on full alert, yet she only noticed that there were two individuals present until she locked eyes on who she presumed to be Yinqwy.

"Thank you for guiding me. I wish to speak with Evelyn alone, so you can go now." Yinqwy said in a gentle but authoritative tone.

Lizlul, feeling an immense pressure being in the presence of such a high-ranking member of the Great Shell bowed her head deeply and hastily left the room. She was too overwhelmed to even give an ounce of concern for Evelyn.

Once the door was shut, Yinqwy turned her gaze towards Evelyn and looked at her appraisingly.

Nearly three minutes went by in silence and a heavy tension filled the air in the room as Evelyn became more anxious.

"It looks like Mel's boasting was not unfounded. To think you would be just as exceptional as she said you were, Evelyn. I'm a bit jealous she was able to find such an extraordinary apprentice."