An Owl's Rise

"That should be everything you need to know before our lesson tomorrow. Now get some rest and be ready. The next few days are going to be harrowing as I teach you the fundamentals of alchemy and how to create a number of common potions, pills, and the like."

After saying this Melisandre left Evelyn to her own devices, and with nothing else to do and having gotten back home after a long time away, Evelyn took Melisandre's advice and got a good long rest.

The next day when she awoke, she felt very refreshed and raring to go.

Quickly she washed herself off and then went to grab some food before her first lesson in alchemy from Melisandre.

"You are up early, Evelyn. You must be excited for your lesson today." Melisandre said as soon as Evelyn entered the kitchen.

Though seeing as how she was here already and was practically beaming, it seemed to Evelyn that Melisandre was the one who was really excited.

Once the two of them had finished their breakfast which was specially cooked to increase their magical energy and stamina recovery, they returned to Evelyn's room to begin.

"Now the most important item for alchemy is almost always the cauldron. There are few things that are made without it, and it will be quite some time before we worry about any of those." Melisandre said as she quickly went over what she had told Evelyn yesterday.

She then nodded her head towards the cauldron and had Evelyn check it over to make sure that it was clean and that there were no damages to it.

Melisandre had stressed the importance of doing this every time before using the cauldron, since if even the slightest bits of remains from the last brew were in it, whatever was trying to be made this time would fail or be of a lesser quality. Also, it was important to make sure the cauldron was not compromised, less it leak or even explode.

Of course, as Evelyn had not used this cauldron before, so it was in pristine condition with not even the slightest trace of anything inside it.

"Good, let us begin." Melisandre said once Evelyn had finished checking her equipment.

To start Melisandre was going to demonstrate the entire process for creating a basic healing potion and then allow Evelyn to try.

Of course Evelyn already knew what to do as she had followed the instructions in the book that Mason left, but there was always knowledge to be gleamed by watching a master work.

"First, we place in the soothing lily's roots. Then add the appropriate amount of heat to the bottom of the cauldron and wait until enough liquid has seeped out. It is important that you master the timing for this step as it is important in the creation of almost every alchemical item. You need to make sure to bring out most of the magical energy and properties of the plants you are brewing with. Too short a time and you will make an inferior product, to long and you will degrade the essence of your ingredients." Melisandre explained.

She then created some fire with her magic and placed it under the cauldron.

Staring at the bright orange flames that were dancing around the caldron Evelyn could not help but be in awe by its beauty.

Soon enough the soothing lily's roots had dissolved into a bright green liquid that had a pleasant scent to it.

Next Melisandre added the flowers and lowered the amount of energy her flames were producing and waited for it to dissolve in the mixture as well.

Following that she added a single vial of blood from the regen capybara all the while stirring with a long stick that she was sending her magical energy through.

A few more supplementary ingredients later and a lot of stirring, and she had finished the healing potion which was now a very dark green.

The amount she had made would easily fill up two dozen potion vials and showed how far the ingredients could go.

Scooping it out with a ladle Melisandre swiftly and expertly sealed the potion into bottles and finished showing Evelyn the process.

"It is also important that you be able to discern the quality of what you have made. So, pull out a potion you have from that human's stash that you found." Melisandre instructed.

Understanding what she wanted Evelyn pulled out a potion, though it was not one Mason left her but one that she had made herself when she was practicing.

The second she took it out she could see the massive difference between what she had made before, and that Melisandre had made just now.

Her potion was green as well, but it was murky, and it seemed that not all the ingredients had fully dissolved as they should have.

There was no doubt that while Melisandre's potion was about as high quality as possible, hers was at the lowest of the low.

"I am honestly surprised that someone left this around. It is pretty much garbage. It would likely taste as foul as it looks, and it might heal a few bruises and scrapes over a time of a few minutes. The ingredients were also preserved for longer than they should have been and lost some of their effectiveness. Plus, only the base ingredients were used not even half of what is necessary to make a quality potion was put into this. Truly why would anyone leave this thing around. The vial it is stored in is worth more than the contents." Melisandre said as she grimaced at the potion Evelyn had presented.

As her work was torn into Evelyn's expression started to cloud over, and she dropped her head as she remembered how proud she was when she was able to make something that Melisandre equated to garbage.

Once Melisandre finished her rant about how horrible the quality of the potion Evelyn had presented was, she noticed that her disciple was slumped over and looked dead inside.

It was at this point that she remembered that Evelyn had a beginner's book on alchemy, and that this was probably a potion she had made herself.

"However, while this potion is not of a high quality, it is still a success. It takes time and practice to make truly quality items, and in the beginning, everyone fails many times during the learning process." Melisandre said with an approving tone, hoping to brighten Evelyn up.

Hearing this Evelyn raised her head with a hopeful gaze, and Melisandre let out a sigh of relief to see that she was bouncing back.

"I have now demonstrated how to make a healing potion and imparted my wisdom to you. Now show me what you are capable of."

Nodding her head and with a renewed vigor, Evelyn got to work on creating her own batch of healing potion.

'First the roots of the soothing lily.'

After making sure the cauldron was thoroughly cleaned, she placed the first ingredient inside the cauldron and then created a whisp of her heavenly flame.

Seeing the flickering crimson flame Melisandre leaned in closer and examined it intently.

Luckily, she did not interrupt Evelyn or make any comments, so Evelyn continued and placed the flame under the cauldron.

'Wow this is much easier than before.' Evelyn thought as she adjusted the flame's output.

The last time she had tired alchemy she was still afraid of the heavenly flames' power and was barely able to use it without it blowing up in her face from her own indecisiveness.

Now it was responding to her a lot better and in a matter of a dozen seconds she had only the liquid essence from the soothing lily's roots in the cauldron.

Next, she added the flower just like Melisandre had, and adjusted her flame so that she did not degrade the flower.

'Stir, stir, stir, stir, stir.'

With a brewing stick in her beak Evelyn swiveled her head around and allowed her magical energy to flow into the brew.

Though unlike Melisandre's, her brewing stick automatically absorbed her magical energy since she did not have perfect control yet and could not be expected to regulate the output on her own.

Continuing on and going step by step she did just as Melisandre had, and soon enough she had completed ambient the healing potion.

Inside was a vibrant green color similar to Melisandre's, and it actually seemed to sparkle somewhat when it caught the light.

'Wow this was so much easier than what I did before. Not only do I better understand my flame now, but the materials and equipment are all so much better. And Melisandre's instructions were leagues above what were written in that old book.' Evelyn thought as she looked at her completed product.

It was incomparable to what she had made when she initially practiced alchemy after finding the necessary materials and instruction left to her by Mason.

Though as Evelyn was smiling and proudly thinking about how far she had come, Melisandre coughed and brought Evelyn back to attention.

There was still one more step to complete, and if Evelyn dawdled too long her brew would start to degrade.

Quickly she began portioning out the liquid into potion vials until she had emptied the cauldron and filled up twenty bottles.

Then once she was done with that the calm composure that Melisandre had been holding vanished, and she smiled brightly and practically skipped her way over to Evelyn.

"Truly what was that!? You flame is not like anything I have ever seen! No way that is just a normal affinity! It has a quality to it that is even more potent than my fire magic!"