The Greatest Sinner

Thanks to the occurrence of the one-eyed raven, Evan had managed to kill the monster, but he`d suffered serious wounds. Evan's regeneration was quite high, but if the through wound in his leg healed in a few days, it would take him two or three weeks to recover his arm.

The night was coming and it wouldn't be long before the blue moon would be illuminating the whole forest, so Evan decided to find a safe place to sleep.

<I hope I can climb to the top of the tree using only one arm.>

Evan thought to himself and grasped the nearest branch with the blade of his scythe. He intended to climb higher that way, but he underestimated the sharpness of his weapon.

Bam.

The snow-white blade went easily through the wood and instantly severed the branch from the tree, and Evan himself fell with it.

"Damn! How could I have missed that blow! If he hadn't broken my arm, it would have been so much easier."

Evan was annoyed at the situation, he couldn't even climb a tree and rest.

<So, okay, I need to calm down. Compared to the slope this tree is not that high, and it is enough just to get to that branch over there.>

Evan thought to himself looking at the thick branch at a height of about seven meters. It was not the top, but at this height, he would feel safe and have a view of the forest.

On the one hand, it was silly to think about it, because Evan couldn't even climb the closest branch, but he had one idea. He didn't like it much, but he couldn't think of any other way. It was too dangerous to stay near the tree, but he didn't have enough strength to continue on his way.

Whoosh.

Evan's "Warp" spun, and the next moment a green magic circle appeared on the ground. Evan cast the "Summon Thorny Ivy" and his idea was to use the vine to climb up.

Evan controlled the vine, and before long, it was wrapped around the branch Evan wanted to get to.

<Now the hard part.> Evan thought to himself and looked at the thorny vine, but he had thought of a way to make it a little easier.

Swing.

Evan swung his scythe several times and cut off the nearest thorns on the vine, but he couldn`t do so further. He would have to climb the vine with only one hand. Unfortunately, he would not be able to avoid all the thorns, but he had no better option.

<All right, let's go>.

Evan thought to himself and grasped the vine tightly. He leaned on the tree with his legs and slowly climbed up. Evan had to endure numerous cuts from the thorns along the way. They certainly would heal quickly, but it was clearly not a pleasant feeling.

<Yeah, the road to the Academy of Magic is not at all what I`ve imagined.>

Whoosh.

Evan gripped the vine tightly and made one last tug. It was hard, but he was able to get to where he wanted to. On a branch as wide as this one, he would be able to rest and sleep.

Evan looked at his wounded arm and canceled the spell. Despite his wounds, he was safe now.

<Hmm, this forest is quite beautiful from there. If I'm right, the others will have reached the "Half-Dead Forest" by tomorrow morning, I wonder what they'll do? According to the map, it`ll take ten days to go around the forest. Going through the forest is faster, but more dangerous.>

Looking at the many trees Evan remembered his battle with the monster. Evan had won with difficulty, but he had fought alone.

<However, on the other hand, even if they were attacked by several similar monsters, such a big group should be able to fight back easily. Someone might get hurt, but they'll make it through the forest in no time.>

Evan thought and looked at the rock with the destroyed trail and fell asleep.

...

The next day Evan woke up and went on his way. He had a few kilometers to go and make it out of the forest. By the time Evan had almost reached the fork, the group of rookie magicians had big troubles.

Fien and the others had reached the very trail where the landslide had occurred. Fien knew they could go no further, she frowned and thought to herself:

<This Evan, he`s as usual one step ahead of not only me but everyone else! We should have hurried too. Father had warned me not to go through the "Half-Dead Forest", but it seems I have no other choice.>

It's worth noting that not everyone made the same decision as Fien, about a third of the group decided to take a detour. It would take a lot more time, but they would be safe.

But, the rest had nothing to worry about, as the strongest members of the group, including Enni Cross and Katlyn van Erden, decided to go to the "Half-Dead Forest". It was a dangerous place, but that didn't mean that everyone who entered it would die. You just had to be strong enough and keep a close eye on the surroundings.

So, they split into two smaller groups, each taking a different route.

...

While the others were trying to catch up with Evan, the young man himself had already traversed the forest and reached the fork. It was a raging river that separated the scary "Half-Dead Forest" from the calm glades.

Far beyond those glades were the hills, over which Evan was going to reach the Academy. The hardest part was already behind him, so the young man sighed with relief and headed for the bridge.

Unfortunately, Evan couldn't see his black horse anywhere, he hoped he could find it if he went further, but he knew there was little chance of that.

<Okay, I'll make it before the entrance exam anyway, a walk in the middle of beautiful and peaceful surroundings is not so bad>.

Evan thought to himself and stepped onto the wide, wooden bridge. It had already been four whole days and there were still ten days before the intake. Even without a horse, Evan was sure he would make it in time.

By his calculations, he should arrive in five days if nothing interfered with him.

For the next three days, Evan had walked through a lot of beautiful glades, until he came across one strange place.

<Hmm? Why is the grass turning blue here?>

Besides the blue grass, Evan also saw a small number of trees with thick blue crowns and purple bark. This place looked magical and unusual, he had never seen anything like this before. Even the "Half-Dead Forest" didn't surprise him as much as this location.

Evan checked the map right away, he was sure he was going the right way as his reference point was the high hills on the horizon. He wondered what place he had got in.

He looked carefully at the map and realized that he was now in one of the areas-"The Valley of the Azure Dandelions."