The Greatest Sinner

Evan had finished drawing the Magic Circle of the level zero spell, "Magic Missile". Considering that today was the first time he'd ever done it, he did it pretty quickly. Just a few tries and the Magic Circle was drawn.

"Now, that it's done, I think I'll put it to the test." After saying that, Evan took the parchment scroll and turned it with the Magic Circle side toward the wall.

Whoosh.

Evan concentrated and his "Warp" began to spin and mana slowly flowed to the scroll. Since he used a small amount of "Azure Stone", not much mana was needed.

Whoosh.

The Magic Circle on the scroll glowed brightly, another confirmation that Evan had done everything right. The next moment, a ray flew out of the center of the Magic Circle, which dissipated a moment later.

"As expected, I`ve wasted almost no mana, but this spell can hardly do any damage." Evan muttered contentedly, looking at the scroll in his hands.

He had diluted the "Azure Stone" powder with the paint and so the spell was weak. You could even call it an idle spell: it didn't take much mana, it had no power, but it was perfect for research.

Evan had found an old diary of a magician in the library, detailing how to draw Magic Circles. He would have learned it later, but fate had decided otherwise. Usually novice magicians shouldn't take on such things so early.

The journal had many pages torn out or ruined, but that didn't stop Evan from understanding the general gist. After some trial and error, he`d got through the first stage. Now it was time to move on to the second, more interesting stage.

Evan drew the Magic Circle of the "Magic Missile" for practice, because this spell had been chosen as an example in an old journal.

Evan realized that the owner of the diary apparently hadn`t attended the Academy of Magic and learned everything on his own. The reason was that the first half of the book was devoted to trying to draw a Magic Circle, and the second half to "Transforming of Spells" Evan didn't know if that was the author's decision or if the reason was in other circumstances.

Evan had dealt with the first part and was about to move on to the second. "Transforming of Spells" is the process by which a magician changes the structure of a spell, namely replacing some Runes in small Magical Circles, with others.

The information in the journal was inaccurate and sketchy, but Evan understood roughly what the author meant. The thing is, he had actually known what the Magical Circle of the "Magical Missile" looked like before he found the diary. In every spell book, there was a drawing of the Magic Circle, so Evan knew exactly what the Magic Circle of all three of his spells looked like. When a magician learns a spell he must memorize its Magic Circle, it is necessary in order to use the spell correctly.

Evan didn't know how to draw Magic Circles so he had to learn it. Of course, the vast majority of the time scrolls are not needed for spells, but for experimentation.

Evan could start "Transforming of Spells" without drawing a Magic Circle on a parchment scroll, but that option had many disadvantages.

First, if you dilute the "Azure Stone" powder, the scrolls require much less mana. Secondly, for greater effect, it is necessary to see all changes with your own eyes. Thirdly, a mage can cause damage to his body by making a mistake during a "Transforming of Spells".

This is why all magicians use the scrolls as consumables to bring the Magic Circle of their spells to the right form. Particularly strong mages didn't use scrolls, they had their own techniques, but Evan was a long way from that level.

"Okay, it's time to get started, and I'll also check something." Evan said calmly, looking at the Magic Circle scroll.

He had read in his diary about a method that could be used to remove the Magic Circle from the scroll. The essence of the method is quite simple - it`s necessary to channel more mana than required. Then the dust from the "Azure Stone" will not withstand such a strain and the Magic Circle will disappear. There will be no trace of the paint either, as it`s homogeneous with the blue powder.

Evan concentrated and his "Warp" began to spin, the mana was immediately going to the scroll and its flow did not stop. The Magic Circle glowed, but instead of activating the spell, it began to fade away. After a few seconds there was nothing left on the scroll, it looked as good as new one.

Evan had spent less mana than it would have taken to cast a full-blown spell, but considerably more than to simply activate the scroll. He wouldn't do it again, because he still had plenty of blank parchment scrolls, and there was no point in wasting mana. This time he just wanted to see if he could erase the Magic Circles.

This trick only works on Magic Circles that were drawn with "Azure Stone" powder. If you draw a Magic Circle using only "Azure Stone", the Magic Circle will disappear after the first use.

"Great, now we can get to the main thing."

Evan laid out the scroll on the table and began to draw the Magic Circle of "Ice Veil". Drawing the Magic Circle of the "Summon Thorny Ivy" was pointless. Evan had only reached the first stage of "Awareness" with "Ice Veil," which meant that only that spell had the first cell of five unlocked.

The "Awareness" of a spell was very important, because as many as two factors depended on it. The first is the passive amplification of the spell. In the battle with Fien, Evan had given her a very serious frostbite just because his "Awareness" of the "Ice Veil" had reached the first stage. The second is the opportunity to engage in the "Transforming of Spells."

By increasing his "Awareness" of a spell, the magician not only greatly enhances the spell itself, but also gets the opportunity to adjust it to himself using the "Transforming of Spells".

Evan already had a little experience in drawing Magic Circles, so the process was slow but steady. Nevertheless, he had to decide which Runes he would replace with which ones.

Whoosh.

Evan practically finished drawing the Magic Circle, but he stopped at creating the last small Magic Circle. He pondered how he should use the Runes and if he needed to change the spell at all.

<I can greatly reduce the amount of mana needed to cast the spell, I can also reduce the time it takes to cast the "Ice Veil". But I didn't feel like I was missing anything while using it.>

Whoosh.

After a while, the young man smiled weakly and picked up his brush. He dipped it into the blue paint and continued to draw the Magic Circle. Evan had already made a decision.

Whoosh.

After making the last stroke, Evan put the brush aside and looking at the completed Magic Circle he muttered contentedly, "All done, it`s time to test it."

He examined the slightly altered Magic Circle of the "Ice Veil" and rehearsed all the actions in his mind. It was as if he was re-learning the spell and preparing to use it for the first time.

After a few minutes, Evan nodded to himself and headed for the damaged wall of his small lab.

Whoosh.

He slowly drew his sword and at the same moment, his "Warp" began to spin. Mana began to leak out of the "Warp" in large quantities, and the sword was covered in a layer of ice.

This time it was harder for Evan to cast the seemingly familiar spell. He had to get used to the changes he himself had made.

Whoosh.

The" Warp" stopped spinning and the mana stopped flowing out. The sword was covered in a layer of blue ice, emitting danger. It seemed that just touching the tip of the blade would turn you into an ice statue.

Evan grasped the hilt of the sword with both hands, raised the weapon above his head, and swung it as hard as he could toward the wall.

Whoosh.

Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.

The sword blade quickly entered the dense stone and the weapon lodged in the middle of the wall. The sharpness of the sword wasn't enough to cut through the wall any further. Evan was breathing heavily, he had expended a lot of energy on one single blow, but he had a satisfied smile on his face and fire burning in his eyes.

"Huh, I didn't increase the number of the Explosion Runes by three for nothing. Taking away the Compression Runes wasted a lot more mana, but it was definitely worth it."

Evan said it happily, looking at the result. Everything within a one meter radius of the incision had been turned to ice. In all, a third of the wall was frozen through despite the stability of the material it was made of. It was amazing power for someone who had just stepped on the path of magic.