An Owl's Rise

'I am exhausted.'

Perching herself up in her room and leaning against a branch Evelyn closed her eyes and allowed herself to fall asleep.

She had done just as Melisandre instructed and practice magic until she was unable to go on.

Unfortunately, she still felt no closer to a breakthrough than she was before. But keeping at it was necessary, and she knew that it took even Melisandre a year to gain control over her magical energy.

Luckily after a good long rest her exhaustion had completely faded, and she woke up to the next day invigorated and ready to get started.

'Oh, has she already had it brought to me?!'

Looking down near the entrance of her room Evelyn saw that there was a small crate that had not been there before.

And as she opened it up, she found exactly what she was expecting to.

'This is more regen capybara blood than I thought she would send. Though I suppose that this is probably enough to use the remainder of my other ingredients with.'

Taking out the vials Evelyn quickly stored them into one of her storage amulets and then headed to her washroom.

However, she was not there to clean herself off but was instead filling up a few large containers with water to use in diluting her potion.

Once she had what she considered a sufficient amount she eagerly returned to her room and descended to the lower level.

She was feeling excited to get started, and after quickly checking over her cauldron to make sure it was in pristine shape, she began making a new set of healing potions.

'Okay it is practically done. Now I just need to add the water and stir until it had diluted the correct amount.'

Carefully pouring the water in, Evelyn aimed for around an even split this time, just as Melisandre demonstrated, and what would make potions on the high end of what would be acceptable for her to sell.

But as she kept the brew going, she found that it was much more difficult for her to equally mix in the water to dilute what was in her cauldron.

'My neck is starting to hurt.' Evelyn thought after two hours of continuous stirring.

After Melisandre's demonstration she thought that this would only take around half an hour, but unlike her master, she did not have perfect control over her magical energy, and it was taking her far longer to infuse the necessary amount into the watery potion in order to get it to be perfectly mixed.

Still, she could tell she was making progress and getting closer and only needed to keep at it.

Another ten minutes later and she was finally done with getting the potion mixed with water to create what she needed.

Sadly, she was not able to take a break yet and had to go through the painstaking process of bottling up the connection she had just made.

After that she took some time to rest and when she was ready again, got back to work on creating more product she would be able to sell.

This process went on for the next couple of days as Evelyn made the items she knew how to and then diluted them to be applicable to sell on the lowest floor of the alchemy hall.

'Phew, this has been some hard work, but tomorrow I can finally start seeing some results.'

Looking at the results of her efforts Evelyn stared as the numerous shelves that were now covered in bottles of potions and pills.

She so far only knew how to make four basic items, but still they were all very useful and in high demand for their universal need.

'I think this should be enough for quite a while. I have around three hundred healing potions and bottles of magical energy replenishment pills. Along with nearly two hundred antidotes and just over a hundred fortification potions.'

With her stock now ready all that was left was to locate her stall and set up shop.

'I guess I can just ask Melisandre when I see her later at the next meal.'

Having a couple hours to spare Evelyn took the time to thoroughly clean herself off and simply relax for an extended time.

Soon enough though it was time for food and when she arrived, she found Melisandre already waiting and reading a book.

"Ah, Evelyn, you are here. How did your brewing go?" Melisandre asked as she extended a thin strand of magical energy to Evelyn in order to allow her to communicate.

"It went well. I have made a decent amount that should last awhile. Here you can look at what I have made."

Evelyn then quickly took out a few examples from each of the times she had made and passed them over to Melisandre.

Once she had looked them all over a smile appeared on her face and she nodded in acknowledgement of Evelyn's success.

"Good job. You have managed to make these items around fifty to sixty percent less effective just as Katrina suggested. Now you will not gain the ire of those above you."

Getting Melisandre's approval, Evelyn felt quite happy and the anticipation she was feeling began to settle down.

There was no doubt she was worried that what she had painstakingly made might be rejected but is seemed her worries were for naught.

"Oh, but I do have a couple of questions. First where is the stall I am going to be using located? And second, how much should I be pricing my goods for?"

"Well, I have an answer for the first one, but we will need to call in Katrina again for the second."

Melisandre then took out a sheet of paper and handed it to Evelyn before explaining that it was her permit to sell products on the first floor of the alchemy hall.

"I have made it so that you will have a good location near the center of the hall. It is not the best, but it would be odd if you just suddenly took over a prime location. So, I have given you something decent to start out with. All you need do is go early tomorrow before the hall opens to everyone and hand this to the overseer of the first floor and they will show you to your location."

When Melisandre finished her explanation about where Evelyn was going to be set up, she called in Katrina to give her a good estimate to what prices Evelyn's goods should be sold at.

"Well, you have four different brews with a bit of varying quality so you cannot just price everything the same. And you will want to undercut the market a bit at first in order to attract more business to yourself. I would say for your healing potions below your best quality should be priced around one hundred forty credits, and your best ones should be at around one hundred eighty. As for the magical energy replenishment pills, for a bottle of the lesser ones go for one fifty and for the best ones go one ninety-five. The antidotes are a bit less valuable so around one twenty for the weaker ones and around one fifty for the better ones. Finally, the fortification potions are not as common, and a bit more difficult to make so their supply is more limited. But they are still immensely useful. I would go with around two hundred thirty for the lower quality ones and around two ninety or maybe even a bit higher for your best ones."