An Owl's Rise

Evelyn flew over to the giant gorilla, expecting it to be dead, but was surprised to find that it was still kicking.

Despite a massive dent in its torso where the tree had impacted and several abrasions all over its body from when the tree splintered apart, the great ape that ruled this section of the Forest of Giants was still very much alive.

Once again, Evelyn was astounded by how durable the creatures of this world were. Back on Earth nothing would have survived her attack, let alone retained its shape.

Nevertheless, magic permeated this world and gave rise to beings filled with immense power.

'At the very least, this means I can still use it as a partner to test my new magical abilities on.' Evelyn thought, looking on the bright side.

Of course, her opponent was not just going to lie around and let her do as she pleased. Now that she was floating overhead, the giant gorilla leapt to its feet and sent a giant pillar of rock and dirt towards Evelyn.

"Gravitational Freedom."

Before being hit by the incoming attack, Evelyn activated another of the new powers she had gained from the Aethersphere upon her evolution.

This magic allowed her to completely control the direction and magnitude of gravity's pull on her. She could make up down or even fully negate the effects of gravity on herself.

With this power she changed gravity's pull to be behind her and immediately was dragged in that direction like she was falling.

Without any need for movement on her part she avoided the huge pillar of earth coming her way and prepared to counterattack.

Using her new magic, she designated two points of gravitational pull, one in front of her and behind her.

The two forces cancelled out and she immediately was suspended in midair.

Energy began to build up as she was pulled in two different directions by extremely powerful gravitational forces.

It put a great deal of stress on her, but also built up an immense amount of potential energy.

When she finally released the gravity pulling her backwards, she shot forward towards the giant ape like a rocket.

Her opponent attempted to use its magic to put up a barrier between them, but Evelyn simply moved too fast for it to react in time.

Kicking out both of her feet, she slammed into the giant ape's stomach.

Her attack was a bit more effective than she had been expecting, however. Instead of just blasting the ape back with the impact of her attack, she shot through it like a bullet.

Before she even realized what was going on she had come out the other side of its body and was heading towards a tree.

Lucky she quickly switched the direction of gravity's pull again and came to a stop before smashing into a tree at high speed.

'Okay, I need to regulate the attack a bit more if I ever use it again.' Evelyn thought as she whipped blood out of her face.

She had just turned herself in a living projectile and ended up drenched in the giant gorilla's blood.

Thankfully, she was able to burn it all away by covering herself with her heavenly flame, but she would not soon forget this experience.

Though, while she was only a bit grossed out by what had happened, her opponent was suffering from grievous injuries.

It now had a large hole torn through its stomach and back. Both of which were bleeding profusely.

Still, it was a hardy beast and was not going to die from such injuries.

Weaving its magic, the great ape wrapped stone around its wounds and sealed them shut to prevent any more blood loss.

"I suppose that you are still up for more then. Come on, I haven't even broken a sweat yet. You can at least make this a bit more interesting, can't you?"

In response to her taunt, the gorilla let out a thunderous roar filled with rage and magical energy. So far it had not been taking her seriously since she was only a low tier tyrant beast, but now it recognized her as a serious threat.

The entire area began to shake as the earth around the giant ape moved under the command of its magic.

Dirt and stone began to move like water, and the forest looked like the ocean during a great storm, only it was the ground that was moving instead of water.

Enormous waves of earth rose up and threatened to swallow Evelyn. Every second the land would reach up to grab her, and even as she ascended higher into the air to avoid it, it rose up in pursuit.

Eventually Evelyn had reached a height where it was becoming difficult for the giant gorilla to extend its magic, and that was when she stuck with the last power the Aethersphere had awakened.

"Graviton Blade."

A great deal of magical energy erupted from Evelyn's body and formed an undulating mass in her hands. The blade she could craft with this power was limited only by her imagination, and when she had a clear picture of what she wanted the energy took that form.

Long claws like the talons of an owl extend from her hands and created ten extraordinarily sharp blades.

With the wave of one of her hands she sliced through one of the waves of earth rising up to swallow her.

Of course, the earth was not only sliced through, but also put under the effects of greater gravity. Everything Evelyn cut through with her Graviton Blade had the gravitational pull on it increased by ten times. However, this power was different from her Gravity Field which worked within a certain area.

Anything sliced by her Graviton Blade was afflicted with a curse that would only cease once Evelyn dismissed it or someone else dispelled it with more powerful magic.

"Here you can have these back."

After slicing off several large chunks of earth, Evelyn used her Gravity Tether to connect them to the giant ape.

Along with the gravitational increase form her Graviton Blade and Gravity Tether, Evelyn further increased the gravity of the entire area with her Gravity Field.

Each of these magics added to each other and the large pieces of land Evelyn had carved out returned towards the gorilla like a swarm of meteors.

Naturally the giant ape attempted to control the earth coming towards it with its own magic, but the extreme force being exerted on them proved too much for it.

While it slowed their descent, it was unable to stop them fully.

In a last-ditch effort to protect itself, the giant gorilla wrapped the earth it was controlling around itself as shield.

The large pieces of rock and dirt under the effect of Evelyn's magic crashed into the wall of earth and shattered apart from the impact. However, the force behind them was not fully dissipated and several smaller pieces of stone shot through like a shotgun blast.

A guttural cry erupted from the great ape's mouth as it was shredded by the earth that should have been under its control.

"Looks like that's the end."

All around Evelyn, the land that had risen up like the tide began to fall back down to the ground now that the one controlling it was dead.

Even with its extreme vitality, the proud ape that was one of the apex beasts of the Forest of Giants could not withstand having its body pierced by thousands of projectiles.