An Owl's Rise

Rushing into the Ranking Hall, Evelyn led Bylur and Rehni to one of the reception desks that were already beginning to get packed.

"We are here to sign in for our match today." Evelyn said, holding out her identification cuff.

The receptionist quickly registered Evelyn's team and told her which room they would be able to wait in before their match started.

"Things sure are busy around here." Bylur said, swiveling his head around and looking at the numerous owls crowding the hall.

Normally the place was not too crowded but with all the top-ranking teams going at it, the ranking hall was receiving nearly ten times the usual amount of traffic.

"Obviously not busy enough though." Evelyn responded, a scowl on her face.

Despite how crowded the ranking hall was she spotted Devurg and his cronies coming right for them.

"I see that you didn't run away as I thought. I cannot tell if you are brave or delusional." Trine, the owl that originally led the group that antagonized Evelyn said.

It was clear that she was just trying to rile them up and Evelyn held out her left wing to calm Bylur who was letting his emotions get the best of him.

"We have no intention of running from a fight we are going to win. I just hope you do not flee the Roost in disgrace afterwards without paying us our due." Evelyn said, a taunting smirk on her face.

Trine began grinding her beak in response to this and magical energy began flashing all over her body as her power raged with her emotions.

"That is enough Trine, calm yourself. We only came to see how much progress they made in these five months. And while it is impressive, you all still fall short of us." Devurg said as he appraised Evelyn, Bylur, and Rehni.

He could tell that Bylur and Rehni had advanced to the high tier of the awakened rank, but he was still feeling confident since his whole team was at the peak and Evelyn still only at the mid-tier.

"I am sure you know that rank and tier are not everything. This will not go like it did last time." Bylur said to Devurg, his tone laced with fury.

"Humph! I would sooner believe that the Roost will fall than you being able to beat me. Especially after your pathetic display last time." Devurg said, before walking away with the members of his faction.

"Come on, let us find our room. We still need to eat the meal that Anneli and Katrina prepared for us before the match starts." Rehni said, trying to divert Bylur's attention away from Devurg.

With Evelyn's agreement, Bylur begrudgingly turned away from staring daggers at Devurg's back.

Once they found their room which was number three thousand sixty-two, Evelyn pulled out the small meal she had stored away and began setting it.

"We need to eat quick before our match. We have less than an hour now." She said while loading up her plate.

Swiftly the three of them at the food that gave them a couple more magical buffs and did a last-minute check over their inventory while discussing strategy.

Soon the timer in the room had counted down to only a minute and they waited in anticipation for it reach the end.

When it stuck zero, a blinding light engulfed them and they were warped into another separate dimension where tier battle would be taking place.

Immediately as the light faded, they took in their surroundings.

For this match a random match had been selected since neither one of their teams had been willing to let the other choose.

"Looks like we got a stone spire forest biome." Evelyn said taking everything in.

This was her first time actually seeing this particular environment in person. Even if it was a simulation.

Back on Earth she had read about a similar area in a geography book and remembered that the pictures had really stuck out to er since it was like nothing she had ever heard about before.

Unfortunately, as amazing as the sight was, this was not the time for her to be taking it in.

"Since we have plenty of ancho points, Rehni start putting up wires as we go." Evelyn said.

Nodding her head, Rehni flashed with magical energy and thin wires that were practically inviable began affixing themselves to the rocks and trees around them.

Of course, they did not stay in one place and try to take ahold of an area since they knew this would only make them sitting ducks since among the members of Devurg's team Trine had nature magic and Devurg had Earth. If they made it obvious that they had set up wires in one central location it would be easy enough for their opponents to dismantle their defenses.

Nevertheless, by spreading out the wires in several locations they could change a larger portion of the terrain to their favor and make their opponents wary of traps at every turn whether there were actually any or not.

"Oh, they sure are confident." Evelyn said, turning her gaze upwards.

Unlike her and her team who were flying through the stone spires and trees in order to keep a low profile, Devurg had led his team high into the sky and were searching for Evelyn, Bylur, and Rehni from above.

However, while this gave them a better vantage point, Evelyn was easily able to spot them since they were out in the open before they spotted her.

Using the time they had Evelyn, Bylur and Rehni moved into formation and came out into the open to lure Devurg and his teammates to exactly where they wanted the initial engagement to happen.

A moment after Devurg spotted Evelyn and her teammates, he began racing down towards them, confident that his team would win a head to head confrontation.

'What an idiot.' Evelyn thought as their enemies did exactly what she wanted.