The Greatest Sinner

Evan decided to do some experimentation and research, because of the information he had read in the diary. But, before starting a more difficult stage, you first need to go through an easy one, namely, learn how to draw Magic Circles. That was exactly what Evan was trying to do at the moment.

It was his first experience of this kind, so he acted slowly and carefully. Step by step, the Magic Circle of one well-known spell began to appear on the scroll.

Whoosh.

"Damn!" Evan said. His hand suddenly shook and he made the wrong smear, causing the whole system to collapse. He wasn't upset by this outcome. Evan thought it was normal for a first time. He put the ruined scroll aside and began to draw on a new one.

On the one hand, you have to be an artist to draw a Magic Circle, but on the other, you have to be pretty good at drawing geometric shapes. The Magic Circle is a compilation of two completely different sides that get along together in one drawing.

Most magicians knew how to draw Magic Circles, it was the norm for them, but Evan did it out of his own interest.

Whoosh.

Another blunder and a flaw.

Whoosh.

Evan had gone more than a halfway through, but he just lacked precision and skill.

Whoosh.

The young man came to the final stage, but because of his inexperience, he was unable to make the final touch that would complete the whole system.

...

"Phew...didn't think it was such a difficult and meticulous job, even no strength to rejoice."

Evan muttered slowly, looking at the completed Magic Circle.

Considering that today it was the first time he'd ever drawn Magic Circles, he'd done it well and fairly quickly. What's more, Evan hadn't spent that many "Azure Stones", he still had plenty left over for further research.

Every spell has its own Magic Circle archetype. Evan had just finished creating the Magic Circle of the zero-level spell, "Magic Missile".

It was one of the most popular yet effective spells in the entire world. What's more, many magicians consider it the best option for anyone who has just stepped onto the path of magic. It is often the first thing mentors teach their students.

Magical Circles is a whole system, which is difficult both in theory and in practice. Let's take for example the Magic Circle - spell of the zero level - "Magic Missile" and consider it in detail.

To begin, imagine a large, blue circle. Next, place an inverted triangle on top of it. The points of the triangle are the three Seals that hold the entire spell system together.

The shape of the Seals can be of three kinds: circle, square and triangle. The shape of the Seal depends on what type of Magic the spell is. If it's a Creation Magic spell then the Seal is round, if it's Amplification Magic- it's triangular, if it's Summoning Magic-it's square.

We have a circle and three Seals. Since "Magic Missile" is a Creation Magic spell, the Seals will be in the shape of a circle. Each of the three seals contains a special Rune.

Go from left to right. In the first Seal is a Compression Rune. It looks like a lot of arrows, pointing at one point. At the bottom, in the second Seal, there is the Vortex Rune. It looks like a swirl. In the third and final seal, there is an Explosion Rune. It looks like a burst of torn energy.

Each of the Seals has its own important function that affects the entire Magic Circle. The Compression Rune activates first and gathers the required amount of mana into a single point. Next, the mana passes to the Vortex Rune, which transforms it into the desired form for the spell. The final stage of the spell cast is the Explosion Rune. When the mana reaches the last Rune, it bursts out into the outside world as a finished spell.

It's pretty hard to imagine, so it's best to see it in action. When Evan casts "Magic Missile", he first collects mana in the Compression Rune, thanks to the Vortex Rune, mana transforms into the desired form, and then the Explosion Rune gives mana the impetus it needs to complete the spell successfully.

The Runes work the same for all spells, regardless of the type of magic. But that's not all. The Magic Circle is much more complex, and that's just the tip of the iceberg, so it's time to get to the main part.

In the middle of the Magic Circle, between the three Seals there are three other smaller Magic Circles. They are arranged in the shape of an inverted triangle. Each of these three Magic Circles has a core in the center, around which there are three shells.

These shells are the most complex and important part in the whole Magic Circle of any spell. Each shell is divided into nine equal sections. Each section contains one of the three Runes. Each shell contains a total of nine Runes, three of each kind. They are arranged in a certain order: Compression Rune -> Vortex Rune -> Explosion Rune. There are 27 Runes in one small Magic Circle, and 81 in all three.

While the Runes in the three Seals affect the creation of the spell itself, these Runes affect the characteristics of the spell.

The Compression Runes affect how fast the spell is cast. If the Compression Runes weren't 27, but 54 for example, then the speed of casting would be a lot faster.

The Vortex Runes affect how much mana it takes to cast a spell. The more Vortex Runes you have, the less mana you'll need to spend.

The Explosion Runes control the power of the spell. The important thing to understand is that power doesn't necessarily mean damage. For example, if you increase the number of the Explosion Runes in the "Magic Missile', the beam will be much more powerful. But if you do the same in the "Summon Thorny Ivy", you'll increase the number of vines, and it`ll increase the power of the spell.

The system is quite complicated, but everything is clear and in its place. Nevertheless, there remains one final unresolved issue. If everything is clear with the creation of the spell and its characteristics, then how do you increase the number of any kind of Runes?

It's very simple, this is where the magician needs "Awareness" of the spell. As you know, "Awareness" spells are divided into five stages - "Beginner", "Intermediate", "Medium", "High" and "Absolute".

Back to the three Seals, which are the outer structure of the Magic Circle. Around each seal are five very small round cells. Usually they are blocked and inactive, but that's all because the magician doesn't have enough experience with the spell.

For example, Evan's "Awareness" of the "Magic Missile" hasn't even reached the first stage, so all of his cells are blocked. On the other hand, "Awareness" of "Ice Veil" is at the "Beginner" stage, so one cell of each Evan`s Seal is active. In other words, because the "Awareness" of the spell was in the first stage, Evan had a total of three cells unlocked.

The unblocked cells can be used to copy the Runes that are inside the three small Magic Circles.

If the magician wants to spend less mana on a spell, he needs more Compression Runes, which means he must use unlocked cells to copy those runes. If his "Awareness" is on the first stage, he can get three Compression Runes or any other ones.

However, it wasn't that simple. As you know, the number of spaces for Runes is limited to 81, which means that you will need to remove some Runes to replace them with others.

Therefore, a magician wishing to spend less mana on a spell, will need to copy the Compression Runes and replace any others with them. You can remove both the Explosion Runes and the Vortex Runes.

If the magician copies three Explosion Runes and replaces three Vortex Runes with them, less mana will be needed to cast the spell. But it will take more time to cast, and its power will remain the same since the Explosion Runes weren't affected.

Let's take another look at what a Magic Circle is - it's a circle with an inverted triangle on top of it. On the points of the triangle, there are three Seals inside which there are the Runes. Runes create spells from the mana in three stages, each Rune is responsible for a specific process. Around each Seal are five cells denoting the "Awareness" of the spell. In the center of the Magic Circle, there are three smaller Magic Circles. Each smaller Magic Circle contains three shells, each of which contains Runes.

Understanding such an intricate system is difficult, but quite possible. Drawing something like this is even harder, but after a few tries Evan was able to pull it off.

"AHAHAHAHAHA, this world really is wonderful! Magic is, indeed, an amazing thing," Evan muttered.