The Greatest Sinner

After activating the Sigil of the 71st demon, Duke Dantalion, of the second level, Evan concentrated and found himself in "Nirvana." 

The demon was already waiting for him, it was also a book, but it was not old and shabby like before. In appearance, it was no different from the most ordinary book that lay on the shelf in the bookstore.

Evan smiled and said his request, "I want to have the ability to save the contents and all the information from any book with one touch of my hand."

As Evan was leaving the library, he thought of just that. Duke Dantalion could give him this ability, but the problem was that Evan would have to use the Sigil of the second level to do so. For the same reason, Evan first had tried to use the Sigil of the first level, but unfortunately, it hadn't worked. To fulfill this request, he needed a stronger incarnation of the demon.

Initially, Evan had forgotten about this possibility at all. He had enjoyed reading, and even considering all the circumstances, he hadn't regretted a single second he had spent in the library. Evan only remembered this way when he thought about his lifespan. He would have to give up a lot of years of his life for this power. Moreover, he wasn't sure if he would ever be able to use this power in this world.

After Evan had voiced his request, the book opened, and the pages began to turn. After a couple of seconds, they stopped, and Evan read the words on the page, "Twenty-four hours is maximum."

One might have thought "twenty-four hours" was the price, but that was fundamentally wrong. It meant for how long Evan could use this ability, that was - for only 24 hours.

At the same second, the calculations began in Evan's head. He had to quickly figure out if he had enough time and if he could save the information from all the books in the library. It's worth noting that Evan was going to save the information, not memorize it. Later he planned to use all the saved information to memorize it. Otherwise, he might get severe headaches after the thousandth book.

< There are about 20,000 books in the library. It takes me one hour to get to the library. It will take me 23 hours, that's 1,380 minutes or 82,800 seconds. That's about four seconds per book, I could just run next to the bookshelves, but that would draw extra attention. It wouldn't be suspicious if I picked up a book, looked at its cover, and put it back. Considering some of the books are pretty high up, and it takes me a couple of minutes to get down to the lower floors...I need to spend three seconds per book to save everything in the library in my mind.>

Evan did a quick count. A total of twenty-four hours was a long time, but there were a lot of books in the library, either. Nevertheless, if nothing interfered with him, Evan would have time to save all the books.

Evan said calmly: "Twenty-four hours suits me. Show me the price."

He had already guessed that the price would be high. The second level sigil had summoned a stronger demon essence, which meant the price for its power was appropriate.

There was a rustling sound after Evan's words until the book stopped at one of the pages. He read: "Thirty years."

Evan frowned but nodded anyway.

"I agree."

Thirty years was an impressive price. If Evan hadn't learned about his unusually long lifespan, there was no way he would have agreed to such a deal. Nevertheless, Evan could now afford to do so.

Given his previous sacrifices, his lifespan was 464 years. Subtract 30 from that number, and you get 434, which was still a lot. Until his lifespan dropped to 300 years, Evan was not going to be economical and cautious.

After Evan agreed, the life force began to leave him. The feeling was even worse than in "Half Dead Forest" when he had sacrificed twenty years of his life.

After a few seconds, red energy began to emanate from the book. It slowly made its way to Evan's right hand. In time, a mark appeared on the back of the young man's palm in the shape of a book with a large eye in the center. That was why Evan had gone into the store and bought gloves in advance.

Sure, the symbol looked like a regular tattoo, but there was no point in taking any chances. These gloves only cost 50 "Moon Coins," and having them on hand eliminated any risk.

After the procedure was over, the book evaporated, and Evan went out of "Nirvana."

Without wasting a second, Evan headed towards the library. He was in a big hurry and ran all the way, so it only took him 50 minutes. He had another 23 hours and 10 minutes to keep all the books from the library in his mind.

When Evan entered the Academy grounds, he stopped running and continued walking at a measured pace. He didn't have much time, but he would definitely make it in time if he did everything as planned. There was no need to draw attention to himself.

He walked calmly toward the library. Nothing happened on the way, and a couple of minutes later, Evan was on his way down to the first floor of the library. As a full hour passed since the ability had started, Evan touched the first book. He quickly picked it up, looked at its cover, and returned it to its place. Then he moved on to the next book, then another one and another.

Everything went as planned. From the outside, Evan looked like the most ordinary student searching the book he needed. Moreover, after about five hours, Evan entered a section where almost no one was present. So he speeded up considerably, and he simply ran his hand over the books and walked on.

Evan then went down to the second floor, where he did the same thing. Evan was pleased that such an important moment was no problem. After all, this power had cost him thirty years and was only given for twenty-four hours.

...

Evan spent almost 24 hours in the library, and frankly, he was already quite tired. There were 20,000 books on four floors of the academy, which was a lot. During this time, Evan repeated the same action over and over again: he took a book from the shelf and then returned it to its place.

The action should have stopped after 30 minutes, but Evan was no longer worried about anything. He had only ten books left to look through.

After a minute, Evan returned the last book to the shelf and sighed with relief.. Looking around the huge library, Evan muttered quietly: "I've done it."