The Greatest Sinner

Evan stared at the small crimson orb and pondered the information he had just received.

The deal with the Duke Dantalion's book had brought Evan a basic knowledge of the magic of this world. But most important and most precious was the talent for magic. For before the appearance of the crimson orb, nothing existed in his mind, only emptiness.

After a while, the smile left Evan's face and he frowned, "What color is that?"

After he had gained the knowledge of magic, Evan realized that the system here was completely different from his previous world. In terms of magic, he would have to learn everything from scratch. He learned the very basics, he simply didn't have the strength to do more.

The sphere floating in the void in front of him was called - "Warp". It is the base of every magician and everything was built on it. Otherwise, it's also called - "The Star Without Ends."

In all, the "Star" can have nine ends. Each new end is an entire new world for the mage, which greatly increases his power and elevates the mage to an entirely different level.

The color of the "Warp" can also vary. There are white and purple ones. Those who had purple "Warp" were hailed as true geniuses in the field of magic. However, Evan had no information about crimson one.

He didn't know for sure if he was the only one with such "Warp", or if his knowledge was simply too limited. Furthermore, he also didn't know what the bizarre, black scythe inside the orb meant either.

"All right, I'll deal with that later. There are bigger problems at the moment. I need to find a teacher or an academy, if they exist at all."

Evan still didn't know how to use magic, he needed a mentor for that. All he had was the most basic knowledge and a forcefully acquired talent.

Having determined the next goal for himself, Evan left "Nirvana" and immediately fell asleep. Like the last time, he slept for a very long time.

With all the sacrifices, both his own ones and the others, he was simply too weak to use even a fraction of the power of 71 demons without a corresponding return.

Ten days later, Evan woke up hardly, feeling a terrible headache. He didn't know what the cause was. Because of the information that had directly entered his head or because he had been lying for so long in the cave, completely reeking of blood.

"I need to wash up and eat something." Evan reached into the bag he had taken from one of his victims, but when he saw the contents, he frowned. All the food inside was spoiled, and even the jerky looked completely icky. Unfortunately, he had no choice.

Gathering his strength, Evan put a bad- looking piece of meat in his mouth and swallowed it quickly.

"Fuck, that's disgusting. I feel like this meat is older than me." It tasted even worse than he could have imagined. Evan thought he had made a big mistake, but it was too late.

After his little snack, Evan headed straight for the exit of the cave. To his surprise, he found that it was the end of the night and the dawn was nearing.

<I've been asleep most of the time in this world, it's time to correct this disappointing trend>

Evan walked slowly toward the nearest river, feeling the cold of the night rather intense. Aside from his black, leather armor and a simple shirt underneath, he had no other clothing.

The armor didn't cover his whole body, and didn't keep him warm at all. But the comfort and maneuverability were excellent.

No sooner had Evan walked a hundred yards than his stomach began to rumble violently. After all, a small piece of meat after ten days of sleep was simply not enough to satiate him.

In any case, he had nothing else to eat. Heading toward the river, he found a stick of suitable length, which he quickly hacked off and made into a kind of spear. A very simple and primitive weapon, but that was all he needed.

When he got to the river, Evan washed and cleaned up first. He just couldn't stand the stench that was coming off of him anymore.

After that, it was time for a little hunting. Evan took his self-made spear in his hands and began to watch the fish in the river carefully.

Whoosh.

After a couple of minutes, he made a few pinpoint strokes into the water and three small fish were flaunting on his spear.

"Hmm, not bad, but it probably won't be enough." Evan took the fish off the stick, set them aside, and continued hunting.

...

"Well, I guess that's enough." Evan picked himself up about a dozen fish. So even given their not-so-large size, he was sure he could get enough.

The only thing left to do was to make a fire. Evan had no problem with that and ten minutes later, he was roasting his prey.

"Eh, normal food at last. It was just a nightmare before."

Taking one of the fish, Evan took a big bite out of it with pleasure and began to eat. It tasted very ordinary, but in that moment, it seemed magical to Evan.

As he finished the third fish, the sun began to rise and the first rays of sunlight illuminated his meal. About half an hour later, when the entire forest was covered in sunlight, Evan finished his last fish.

"Аh?". As soon as he finished his meal, he saw blood slowly flowing toward him across the water. There was more and more of it by the second.

Evan wanted to go back to the Mossy Vulture, but he couldn't pass up the chance to get some benefit from other people's fights.

Standing up and shaking off all the dust, Evan headed straight for the bloody trail.

When he reached the right place a few minutes later, he saw a very ordinary picture.

A lot of broken and fallen carriages and wagons. The bodies of bandits and guards were lying all over the place. A pile of dead bodies just lay right on the riverbank. It was obvious that the battle was not yet over, for the biggest and most beautiful carriage was still intact.

There were two men in brass armor and five bandits near the carriage.

Well, the forces were at very different levels. Only unlike the bandits, the soldiers were not in the best shape. They were not wounded, but their heavy breathing clearly indicated that they were very tired.

Behind the soldiers, right in the doorway of the carriage stood a short girl with curly, blond hair and eyes as blue as the ocean. She was obviously the main target of both defense and attack.

Evan simply stood leaning against the tree and watched the whole situation unfold.

The bandits were no use to him, but some important person or rich woman might well be. He had to figure out whether he should protect her and deal with the bandits, or take on their role himself.

While Evan was thinking, one of the soldiers had already been killed, as well as the two bandits. And after a few minutes, the last defender of the carriage was left to fight alone against two and it was clear that he would soon lose.

It was obvious from the girl that she was very afraid and nervous, and there was despair in her eyes. Apparently, she had never been in such a bad situation in her life.

Crack.

The armor of the last soldier was shattered by the hammer of one large bandit. And now, the girl was left all alone against two opponents.

It was at that moment that she noticed Evan, standing by the tree with his arms crossed.

"Please, help me!" At that moment, the two bandits turned around and saw Evan walking slowly in their direction.

They immediately prepared to fight, but Evan wasn't about to do anything.

"What can you offer me? I'm interested in money and magic." Evan's voice was calm and clear, he wasn't nervous at all.

When the girl heard his words, her eyes glittered and she quickly replied, "I have money and ..."

The girl did not have time to finish because Evan was attacked. However, the first part of her remark was already enough for Evan to make his decision.

He easily dodged a sharp blow with the big hammer, driving the blade right into the attacker's throat. However, the second bandit was not confused and swiftly attacked Evan with his spear, aiming straight at his chest.

In response, Evan simply let down his sword and grabbed the attacker's spear with two hands. He easily ripped him out of the hands of a bandit and quickly pierced the man with his own spear.

"Well, I've held up my end of the bargain. Now it's your turn."