The Greatest Sinner

"Now that we're done with everything, can I access blood magic spells?" Asked Evan looking at the black ring.

Virion nodded, "Sure, but you're only allowed to take first-level spells. It's trivial security considerations, in case you're going to pass them on to someone else. What's more, you haven't even reached the Two-Pointed Star stage yet. You don't need spells above level one."

Evan decided to go for it. Of all the options and conditions, these were the best. Not only would he not have to worry about his safety, but he would get the spells and support of a race like the vampires. Evan was even more pleased with himself now that he had decided to spend 100 years of his life, to destroy a group of mages. It was a lot, but it had already paid off handsomely.

If Evan hadn't been strong enough to help Nessa, Virion wouldn't have even considered the option of offering Evan to be their friend.

"Agreed." Briefly, Evan replied.

...

Virion took Evan to one of Darfil's main libraries. Each family had its own small library, but one shared library contained most of the known spells of blood magic.

However, there were not many spells. There were dozens of times fewer than the spells in the mage academy. This was because there were many times fewer vampire nobles than mages. What's more, there were fewer vampires than humans, so there weren't as many who could use spells.

Virion walked Evan to the library and went about his business. Evan now had a seal that Virion Emerton had given him personally. No vampire would attack him. Virion was not the strongest vampire in Darkfil, but his father was one of the strongest. Moreover, Virion himself was a nobleman and an evolved vampire. There weren't many of them.

But as Virion had said, Evan was not allowed access to spells above the first level. He didn't argue and headed for the spells. He had waited a long time for this moment, Evan hoped that increasing his knowledge of blood magic would help him create his own.

Evan picked up the first spellbook and read its title, "Sacrificial Spear."

This spell created several simple blood spears. It took very little mana to create them, and their destructive power was great enough to kill a large enemy gradually. It was a simple, effective, but not unique spell. It was fairly easy to defend against, you had to be quick and nimble enough.

At that moment, Evan got the idea in his head to use "Mammon's Gaze" on the spellbook.

<When I used Mammon's Gaze on magic crystals, I saw quite a bit of information about them. Thought Evan and his left eye turned to gold.>

[Spellbook - Sacrificial Spear

Rank - 1

Rarity - Common]

In that same second, a fire of interest lit up in Evan's eyes. From the example of his weapon, the Dark Reaper, Evan realized that the Rarity parameter could be compared to the star rating system.

But Evan wasn't aware of anyone grading spells by stars. Weapons, artifacts, medicines, smiths, and alchemists were subject to such grading, but not spells.

<So that means I can determine which spells are rarer and therefore more powerful, right?>

Evan though this was an incredible opportunity. He understood that there was no point in taking all the spells, he would only read the books, but he would not train. Evan wanted to choose one or two spells for training, but he didn't know how to decide on a choice.

The spellbook detailed the spell itself and its magic circle, but it didn't show the spell's power. Only by using the spell could the magician be sure of that. That's why, in the libraries at the mage academies, every spellbook is tested. There was no point in keeping a blatantly weak spell with many disadvantages in the library.

Evan decided to take his time and act wisely. First, he selected all the books with a minimal rarity - Common. There were quite a few, but the spells in these books were simple, and the information was not difficult to grasp. Given Evan's reading speed, he quickly read all the books in two weeks.

The vampires didn't bother him, he could stay there as long as he wanted. Once he was done with the spells of a rarity - Common, Evan began reading the spells of a rarity - Uncommon. There were far fewer of these books, and it only took Evan a day to finish them all.

The information in these books was more in-depth and detailed. These spells required more skill, care, and craftsmanship.

One such spell was the Blood Bomb. This spell accumulated blood at one point, after which the mage had to interact properly with the mana to create wave pulses. In this way, the blood sphere gradually became more powerful but also less stable.

If the magician were not skilled enough, the sphere would explode in his hands. However, if successful, the magician would throw a bomb at his enemy at the peak of his power. There would be a deafening explosion, and the magic-filled blood would destroy the enemy.

After reading these books, Evan learned more about blood magic. It turned out to be more complicated than he had imagined. For one thing, some spells did not create blood from mana but required the blood of the mage himself. Evan didn't mind bleeding himself, he'd done it many times before. However, if the fight was long and the mage was careless, he might find himself in a situation where he would die from the bleeding he had caused himself.

Secondly, there were far fewer blood magic spells than there were fire spells, for example. This was the first time Evan had encountered anything like this, and so he reread some points several times to see what needed to be done.

"Okay, it's time to get to the fun part." Mumbled Evan and looked at the seven books spread out on the table.

Six of them had Rarity - Rare, which could be compared to 3-star weapons. There were very few of them in the library, which spoke to their rarity.

The last spellbook Evan decided to keep for last had Rarity - Epic. It was the equivalent of a 4-star weapon. Evan was sure that finding a spell of such rarity was a daunting task.