An Owl's Rise

'Should I accept or not?' Evelyn thought, considering her best course of action.

In the grand scheme of things three days was not much time, but it would still be time spent not pursuing her immediate goal.

On the other hand, the information that this tortoise might be able to provide her could shave off a great deal of time searching aimlessly for the specific type of fire elemental she was after.

'It would also give me more opportunities to test my magic against more fire elementals. Then there are the alchemical items I made that should be effective against them. But until I use them on a target I won't know for sure.'

Thinking about the pros and cons, Evelyn figured she would be better off taking the tortoise's offer, but it all came down to whether she could really trust him.

When she had initially made her offer to help deal with the fire elementals, she thought she would go around on her own or stick around with the tortoise for a few hours at most. But she would have to rest at some point during the three-day excursion and leave herself vulnerable.

Evelyn still had difficulty trusting others she was not well acquainted with, and while this tortoise seemed like a decent enough guy, one could never know another's true nature from a single encounter.

'He did try to warn me about how dangerous this place is. Though, it did not take much for him to agree to use my power to help him patrol this area.' Evelyn thought, trying to reason out whether she could trust this tortoise.

However, in the end, Evelyn felt that the risk of being stabbed in the back was worth it on this occasion. She knew little about the area and the race of beasts that oversaw it. Gaining information and an ally would be invaluable in her search for a grand fire elemental.

"Very well, I shall accept your proposition. For three days I will aid you in patrolling this area and riding it of fire elementals. In return you will tell me what you know of this Inferno Field. If possible, I would also like something to prove to your fellows that I am not a threat. It would be an inconvenience if I was viewed as a hostile beast that needs to be dealt with."

The tortoise wore a strained smile when he heard Evelyn's last request, but he still agreed, nonetheless.

"I can get you an emblem that proves you are friends with one of the Inferno Field Rangers, the group that I am a part of. With it you should not have to worry much about my comrades that also patrol this place. But I would ask that you not tell anyone about how much help you are giving me with my assigned area. Some might not look favorably on me for getting outside assistance. If anyone asks, just tell them I gave you the emblem because you got me out of a bind fighting several fire elementals. It is the truth anyway."

Evelyn nodded her head and agreed. There was nothing in it for her to cause any trouble for this tortoise or herself. 

"With that settled, there is one more thing I would like to know." Evelyn said, an inquisitive expression on her face. "What might your name be, if you have one? Just referring to you as mister tortoise or something along those lines would be uncomfortable."

The tortoise looked down at Evelyn with a blank stare as he realized that he had completely forgotten to introduce himself.

"Sorry, about that. I should have introduced myself earlier. You can call me Krunnen. That is the name I chose upon joining the other tortoises in the Great Shell." Krunnen said, a look of embarrassment on his face.

Evelyn could not help but snicker when she saw this. Never had she expected such a massive beast to show such an expression. It really did not suit him.

After having formed an alliance, Evelyn accompanied Krunnen and kept watch from above for any fire elemental activity.

"So, how large is the territory you are expected to cover? I still haven't gauged how vast this place truly is because of the constant cloud of steam and smoke obscuring everything. Without the constant glow of the rift in the center to use as a point of refence, it would be pretty easy to get turned around." Evelyn said, probing for information in an innocuous way.

"Oh, I should have mentioned how much area we are covering earlier." Krunnen said, seeming to beat himself up about forgetting another little thing after forgetting to give his name.

"The area that I have been assigned to keep watch over is around one hundred twenty square kilometers. Its honestly a pretty large area to range, but we're still on the periphery of the Inferno Field where it is safest. It is actually quite rare to run into three fire elementals at once like I had earlier this far from the rift. The closer you get to the rift the more powerful fire elementals and aberrant beasts and plants you will encounter. I've heard horror stories from some of my seniors about the kinds of creatures that lurk near the rift." 

Krunnen then went on to tell Evelyn the approximate range of effect the elemental rift had on the surrounding area.

The Inferno Field extended out like a rough circle with an approximate radius of three hundred thirty kilometers. In certain places this could be shorter or longer, but this was the average that had been determined within the last decade.

"Normally there are only around three thousand rangers patrolling the Inferno Field at a time but because of the recent surge in fire elemental activity coming out of the rift, there are closer to five thousand of us right now. All I know is that we can't let these fire elementals escape. We aren't sure how, but whenever they reach the edge of the Field, they are able to expand its influence and warp the environment. Increasing the range of this hellscape."