The Greatest Sinner

Step.

Evan, along with Sana, came out of the cave and finally saw what the Academy of Magic, "The Last Moon," looked like.

They were quite far away, ten kilometers away, but the Academy was perfectly visible.

Like Sana had said, it was a real city with its own structure. Three outer shells, each of which was a side zone, and the Academy building itself at the very center.

The city itself was on a huge hill, so the zones were on top of each other. The higher up you went, the more expensive the place was. Naturally, "The Last Moon" was the highest.

Unfortunately, from this distance Evan couldn\'t get a detailed view of the city, it was too far away, he had to get closer.

<So, will it be my home for the next few years?> Evan thought to himself looking at the city.

Then his gaze turned to a small village a few kilometers from the city, that\'s where he would be going. There he would wait for the start of the intake to the Academy.

"By the way, Sana, how long does the study in the Academy last?"

Asked Evan, as he wanted to know about how long he would have to stay at the Academy of Magic.

Sana hesitated a little then, replied, "That depends on your progress. I don\'t know everything myself, but the first stage lasts three years, I\'m now in the second year of the first stage."

"Stage one?"

"Yes, the first stage lasts three years and begins when you enter the academy. During those three years you have to break through all your "Barriers" and reach the level - One-Pointed Star." The girl replied calmly.

"So, if you fail and don\'t make it in time you will be expelled from the Academy?"

The girl nodded: "Yes, by the way, not all the Academies of Magic do that. In some of them, the students have been studying for many years, even if they don\'t make any progress. After all, they can still do the tasks and benefit the Academy. "The Last Moon" can afford to turn away students who are not making any progress."

<Three years to reach the "One-Pointed Star"? Would it really take that long to break through the remaining two "Barriers"?>

Evan and Sana kept moving forward. Thanks to her, Evan was going to make it to the academy much faster than he`d planned. He was lucky that he decided to visit the "Valley of the Azure Dandelions". Not only was he able to partially heal his wounds, but also to meet Sana.

The girl was not surprised by Evan\'s wounds, as magicians often got into various situations and accidents. Moreover, Evan had bathed in the lake and thanks to the healing water, his wounds were almost invisible, except for the bloody spot on his leg where the black thorn had hit.

"Speaking of which, Evan, people usually arrive to the academy in groups, why are you alone? I\'m sure there are a lot of newbie magician coming this year from Mossy Vulture."

Evan smiled and simply replied, "I don\'t like big groups, so I decided to walk alone and fought off the group that way."

"I see, you\'re lucky your path wasn\'t through the "Half-Dead Forest", a few students die there every year. Creepy place."

"Yeah, I agree."

Evan didn\'t tell Sana what had happened to him and because of a series of unfortunate circumstances he had got to the "Half-Dead Forest".

To himself Evan thought, <Hmm, Sana says that students often die in this place, I\'m lucky that I was near the edge of the forest, but my group might not be so lucky.>

Evan had originally thought that traversing the "Half-Dead Forest" wasn\'t such a big deal, but based on Sana\'s words he realized he was wrong. Evan was now certain that not all of those going to this forest would survive.

<If it wasn\'t for the one-eyed raven the outcome would have been sad, that monster was very strong. I wonder if there is anyone stronger in this forest.>

Without the raven\'s help Evan would have died and he knew that perfectly well, but he also knew that if his enemy was more powerful even the raven\'s intervention wouldn\'t have made a difference.

"Sana, what do you know about one-eyed ravens? I was told they dwell in the "Half-Dead Forest."

Evan decided to find out more about the bird that saved him. He was sure the girl knew something about these creatures.

"А? Why are you interested in this? These ravens are the most common scavengers and why do you say a one-eyed raven? It\'s just an animal living in the "Half-Dead Forest."

"All right. I was just wondering why they have only one eye, but now I get it."

Evan frowned and thought, <A scavenger? An ordinary beast? There aren\'t any one-eyed ravens in the "Half-Dead Forest"? What the hell was that? Why did this raven help me, then?>

He didn\'t understand how that could be, and it annoyed him. The rest of the way to the village, Evan thought about the raven\'s actions, but came to nothing.

...

A few hours later Evan and Sana reached the village then, they split up there.

"I have to get back. Good luck in the exam!" Said the girl and headed in the direction of the Academy.

Evan nodded and walked down the village street. As he expected, the village itself was dull and unsightly. It was no surprise, since for the most part it was a small transit point for travelers or newbie magicians like him.

The villagers were content with their situation. Newbie magicians in most cases were from wealthy families. They easily paid the big price for the products and services in the village.

Without thinking long, Evan rented a room in one of the houses and began to "Create". To his surprise, the entire village was filled with magicians. He knew it was because of the exam coming up, but he didn\'t think there would be so many applicants. What\'s more, not all of the newbie magicians wanted to enter "The Last Moon".

Evan spent the rest of his time "Creating", until the day he\'d been waiting for.

The exam would be held at noon sharp and from early morning, hundreds of mages were on their way to "The Last Moon".

Evan, too, packed quickly and left the house he had been living in for the past few days. He had been "Creating" many days in a row, but there was too little mana concentration in this village.

He didn\'t even have enough mana to open another chain. This discouraged him, but he had expected a similar result. Also by this day, Evan\'s wounds had practically healed and were no longer causing him any discomfort.

Evan looked at the city in the distance and muttered quietly: "It\'s finally time to find out what path I\'m going to take in this world."