An Owl's Rise

Once she was finished reading the last message that Mason had left to her, tears began to run down Evelyn's eyes and onto his diary.

She now had nothing left of her brother and had read his final words to her.

Still this only strengthened her resolve to move forward and try and find a way to reunite with him, even if he had died again.

Both of them had already died once and ended up on this strange knew world full of magic. So, it should be possible for her to meet with him again.

'Now what order does he want me to read the other books in.'

Turning the last page of the diary she found the order that her brother was encouraging her to read the books in.

'Well, the first couple are certainly the ones I am most interested in.'

Putting down Mason's diary, Evelyn flew over to the book shelve and took out the one she was most wanted to read.

She had already read the first couple of pages as practice and to figure out exactly what was in it, but now was the time for her to really get into it.

'It is time. I will finally understand what this world's magic is about.'

Opening up the book that was titled 'Beginners Manual to Magic' Evelyn excitedly started reading.

There was much she did not know about this world, and the most important was definitely the magic within it.

She so far had gained a few powers, but she was still unclear of how they worked, or what exactly this magical energy within her was.

'Okay yeah, I get it. Magic is not something to be played around with and it requires dedication and responsibility. Just get to good stuff.'

Flipping through the first pages, she skipped past the long introduction she had already read most of and went straight for the first section on magic.

Once there she began reading intently, the langue guide right next to her to help with any words she did not know, or when she needed help with the actual meaning of words that could be different in certain contexts.

Quickly she read through the first section and learned a decent amount about how magic worked in this world.

First that there was magical energy in the air and that with certain techniques it could be absorbed within the body to create something called a magic core, and to enhance a person's body to make it far stronger.

This was the very basics of magic and was the start to learning to wield the fundamental forces of the world.

Still as Evelyn read this, she now understood better what one of the other books was and went over to grab it, her excitement rising.

Though when she said book, it was actually just more of stack of papers that had been put together in a binding.

Opening it up she looked them over and realized that these were definitely the techniques the book had been talking about, though they were sectioned off into ways she did not quite understand.

'I think that this word means foundation which is what was mentioned in the book. But the next one definitely says water. Oh whatever, I will just try this one first.'

Taking out the one that was titled foundation, Evelyn went to work on trying it out.

She was completely consumed by the thought of trying to make a mana core and begin the path of magic in this world, that she had not stopped to read more and had neglected some obvious questions.

Reading over the technique she found that it required a certain oil to be applied to the body in the form of specific symbols in order to work.

'Damn now I need this ver, ven, wer, oh whatever oil. I do not need to know its actual name for it to work.'

Flying over to the cabinet where her brother said he had left the catalog of items, she opened the drawer and found exactly what she was looking for.

She highly doubted her brother would leave her a technique she could not use and began going through the catalog to find the oil she needed.

'Bingo!'

Looking through it, she found the oil pretty quickly as the twentieth item on the list. and now knew where it was stored.

'An item used to stimulate the absorption of magical energy into the body. Very effective for use in forming a mana core and used in many high-grade techniques. Located on the right side of the bottom shelve third from the left of the entrance.'

With this knowledge, Evelyn hastily flew over towards this shelve and found the oil stored within a sealed jar that had runes carved into it.

Grabbing the jar, she hastily flew over to the center of the room and got ready to apply the symbols onto her body in the correct locations.

'Well, I do not have human anatomy, but I can just put the symbols, on the closest equivalent.'

Once she had memorized the symbols and their approximate placements on her body, she popped the top off and began applying the oil.

Of course, this was far harder than she originally thought it would be. As her feet could not reach the majority of her body, and the tip of her wing did not make the best apparatus to apply the oil.

Eventually though with use of her ability to lower gravity, she was able to keep the oil from running off of her as quickly, and successfully applied all of the symbols to her body.

'Now I just need to open myself up to the energy in the air and begin absorbing it.'

Focusing on her surroundings, Evelyn had already gotten used to the feeling of magical energy in the air, but now on the areas where she had applied the oil she felt even more sensitive to its presence.

Honing in on this sense, she tired drawing the magical energy in through the symbols, and while it did seem to have some effect. It felt obstructed, like there was a massive object blocking the flow.

As is this happened, she tried to force the magical energy into her body, but to little success.

She did not know what the problem was, but she figured that maybe it was due to her different anatomy as an owl.

However, right before she was about to give up for now, the Aethersphere began humming, and the gravity around her became denser as the magical energy seemed to be drawn in.

Within just a few moments, all of the ambient magical energy in the room was drawn to her and began flowing in through the symbols drawn on her body.

It quickly became uncomfortable as so much energy converged within her, but she stuck it out and focused on the magical energy.

The next part of the technique detailed that once she had collected enough energy, she needed to will it towards her center and form the core.

Luckily, she already had practice moving the magical energy inside her body, and soon the massive amount she had collected from the foundation technique and the Aethersphere's assistance began to coalesce.

Hours went by like this as Evelyn absorbed more magical energy and sent it towards the forming magic core in her body, until she suddenly felt it become solid object.

It felt like a small pebble within her, but she could tell that it was filled with magical energy.

Yet what she did not realize at the time was how miraculous what she had just accomplished was, as no beast at her level ever should have been able to form a magic core the way humanoids did.