An Owl's Rise

Chapter 176 176 Back To The Grindstone

?Upon the coming of the next day Melisandre began Evelyn's alchemy training anew.

Up to this point she had been working with what would be considered low quality ingredients by the world at large.

Now, however, that she was at the awakened rank, Melisandre was teaching her how to handle appropriately leveled ingredients.

"To begin with I will demonstrate how to make intermediate healing potions. You have used some of these in the past and I am sure you know how effect they are. Their powers allow them to restore even grievous injures and fix injured organs as long as they are not too badly damaged. If you are quick, they can also allow for the attachment of lost limbs." Melisandre explained while showing Evelyn how to make the potion.

When it was done, she moved to the side and allowed Evelyn to try it for herself, and soon she had created an exceptional healing potion nearly on par with Melisandre's.

"Your heavenly flame never ceases to impress. It wrings out all the best of your ingredients without any hassle. All you need to do is control the heating with it to make sure it does not burn what you are working on. Still, there are other aspects you need to continue working on. Your stirring got a bit lax at the end, and your channeling of magical energy was good but not even throughout the caldron. You need to work on these aspects if you want to produce the absolute highest quality like I have."

A sharp glint in her eyes Evelyn looked back into the caldron and started over again. Hoping to reach Melisandre's expectations.

…

Days went by as Melisandre continued to instruct Evelyn on the ways of alchemy.

For the most part they just went over how to make more potent versions of brews she already knew. Though some of them now had different variations of ingredients that came from other sources and could be used to change the effects of certain potions.

Nevertheless, there were other things that Melisandre showed Evelyn how to make. Most of which were poisons.

"This one here will induce paralysis if it touches most types of creatures. However, even if you miss it creates fumes that when breathed in will also be effective. Albeit, not quite as quickly. Whenever you use it make sure to create a barrier of wind around yourself to prevent getting hit yourself." Melisandre said as she closed a lid over the ominous looking yellow liquid in her cauldron.

Watching this process Evelyn looked at it dubiously but could not deny that it might be useful.

Sure, she might have been stronger, but she had already come up against plenty of situations where she was hopelessly outclassed.

Having even one more option in these situations could be the difference between life and death, so she paid careful attention to her session where learning to brew poisons.

Eventually Melisandre taught her to make one that was lethal nearly immediately to up to mid-tier tyrant rank beasts as long as they did not have a resistance to poison.

"Even if I got hit with this stuff without any antidotes already in my system, I would start to feel sick, and would die if I did not get a remedy within about a week. I do not know why these damn mushrooms needed such a powerful poison, but pretty much nothing can so much as touch them without dying." Melisandre said as she carefully used her magical energy to drop a piece of a bright purple mushroom into her cauldron.

Just seeing this little bit Evelyn shuddered as she remembered the full form Melisandre had shown her earlier.

Apparently, these mushrooms could move around on their own, and they were known as blight mushrooms for how they poisoned the land they lived in.

Luckily, they were pretty rare, and this was one of the ingredients that Melisandre told Evelyn that she would prepare for her. Since it would be way to dangerous to procure on her own.

"There it is done. Now help me carefully move it into a few containers and make sure that none of it gets on you, or the floor. If even a single drop gets loose, I will have to quarantine the entire room and deep clean it" Melisandre said with a very serious expression.

Thankfully they got it transferred out of the caldron by using a special valve that kept it fully sealed and was meant for dealing with such volatile substances.

"Whew, I think that does it. Make sure to remember what I showed you because you will have to do it alone sooner or later. But for now, it will take even my cauldron a couple days to cleanse itself, and I dare not use any other for making this poison." Melisandre said as she looked back at the bottles of dark purple liquid that basically gave off an aura of death.

With her alchemy training finished for now, Evelyn took a deep breath and thought about all she had learned

There were many new things she had been taught with some being secrets that only Melisandre knew from trial and error she had done in her youth.

'But now I need to obtain all these ingredients to make more potions. I do not have nearly enough credits to buy them outright, and Melisandre told me it would be a good experience.'

Now that one thing was finished it was time for Evelyn to move onto the next task. And to start, she began by asking Melisandre where she might procure the items she needed.

"Hm, well the best place to star-"

Yet as she started to explain the best locations to find the items Evelyn would need, she stopped and fixed her with an almost devious smile.

"Actually, I think it would be better if you found this information out yourself. Last time I simply gave you a location to go to, but you need to learn to gather information on your own. I will not be able to help you out forever and this will be a good opportunity for you to learn."

Taken back at first, Evelyn was slightly upset not to have gotten the information she wanted, but quickly realized that Melisandre was right and looking out for her.

'In the future I may need to gather information in a hostile environment. It will be best if I have some practice while still in the Roost where it is safe.'

Acceding to Melisandre, Evelyn did not push for her master to give her the knowledge she needed right now.

Instead, she decided to head to the records hall for the first time since she had originally arrived and do some research on her own.

'If I think about it how I used to stay at the library all the time it will be fun. I mostly read stories or played games on computers, but sometimes I really enjoyed learning about new things and could spend several days delving into one topic.'

Having her plan for the next day set, Evelyn helped Melisandre clean up the lab they had been using, before they both headed on their way with her going back to her room to rest.