The Greatest Sinner

Evan and Zak were riding together, hurrying to the tournament. The tournament was still about two hours away, but the place where it was being held was quite far away. Zak and Evan still had time to spare, so there was no need to hurry.

The tournament was called - the "Tournament of Precious Stones" and was held in the largest arena in all of Mossy Vulture. The arena was situated in a unique place- on the border of the possessions of the Erden and Cross families.

The two Families didn't want to fight over the arena and simply decided to share it and hold similar tournaments and events there. The arena had a beautiful view of the Tower of Magic.

Evan didn't know exactly how many participants there would be in the "Tournament of Precious Stones", but he was sure there would be a lot.

Evan only took "Reverse Death" and "Hidden Calamity" with him, he didn't need anything else. Before leaving, he "had been creating" until he had completely filled his "Warp" with mana, so he was absolutely ready.

"Evan, look we're almost there!" Zak said loudly, pointing ahead.

In the distance, Evan saw a colossal arena that looked more like a coliseum. At a glance, you could tell how majestic this structure was. There really was no better place in all of Mossy Vulture to hold a tournament of this magnitude. There was an ancient aura emanating from the arena that everyone could feel.

Besides the appearance of the arena, Evan was also surprised by the number of people. Hundreds of people were standing around the arena and quickly going inside. By the way, people were from the completely different lays of society.

Evan spotted both poor people and artisans, merchants, and nobles.

While Evan was watching this scene, Zak also saw someone, "Oh, that's Marcel's carriage".

Whoosh.

As soon as the commander said this, the horse accelerated considerably.

Besides Marcel's carriage, there were others visible in the distance. In each of them was an important person, whether it was the head of some Family or a powerful magician.

After a few minutes, Evan and Zak reached the entrance. They were slightly faster than Marcel, who pulled up a minute later.

Marcel and Fien got out, saw Zak and Evan, and headed toward them.

"I see that everyone is already assembled." Marcel said calmly.

Zak replied confidently, "Of course. I hope we have an amazing show tonight!"

Marcel nodded and they all went inside the arena together. Marcel and Zak went upstairs to the auditorium, while Fien and Evan stayed downstairs.

Special rooms had been prepared for the contestants to rest and prepare for the fight.

Fien and Evan didn't talk, they just kept quiet and thought about their own things.

Suddenly the girl said: "I won't lose to you this time. Be ready."

After these words, Fien quickened her stride and headed forward. Evan only smiled and continued walking slowly.

After a minute, Evan reached the main room where most of the participants were.

<So many?>

Evan was amazed at the number of people. He saw about fifty people, but that wasn't all. Since, they were on the left side of the arena that meant that there were actually twice as many participants.

According to Evan's calculations, the total number of participants was about 110-120, maybe even more.

As one would expect, each of the people present looked very formidable and strong. At a glance, Evan noticed a dozen different Magic Artifacts and "Catalysts". Many also wore Magical Armor, be it gloves, breastplate, or pants.

Of course, most people didn't use too many of these items, but there were exceptions.

That was also where Evan saw Fien. The girl was leaning against the stone wall, with a cold expression on her face. People came up to her from time to time, but she did not say a word to anyone.

Unlike Evan, who no one knew, Fien was quite a popular person. She was known as the daughter of Marcel Vierdag and as a very talented novice magician.

There were there not only talented young men from all over Mossy Vulture, but from other cities as well. Evan just stood back and waited for the tournament to begin.

He hoped his fight would take place soon, as he was looking forward to fighting someone.

As Evan pondered his thoughts, more and more people came. Both spectators and participants.

...

After about half an hour, everyone was in their seats, and the tournament was about to begin.

The arena was crowded with spectators. Everyone wanted to see interesting and exciting battles. As for the powerful Families, it was a very important tournament for them.

Now their offspring would fight each other, win and lose. It's a reputation game, because the stronger the younger generation, the stronger the Family will be in the future.

Many influential people sat on the highest ranks. The organizers of this tournament, Koen and Fane, were seated next to each other in luxurious armchairs. Not far from them there were other important people, but of a lower level. They were various heads of the weaker Families, magicians, and so on.

Besides Koen and Fane, three other people had special seats. One of these people was a gray-haired old man with a long beard, wearing a white mantle. It was Gilbert Jellis, the head of the Tower of Magic.

Aside from the Tower of Magic, he had no other territories in Mossy Vulture, for he was only interested in magic and nothing else in this world, and he`d got his place not because of his status, but because of his power.

The remaining two places were occupied by his two best friends, Marcel Vierdag and Zak Hart.

All of these people were doing different things. Some increased their Family's influence, some studied magic, some found talented people and invested in them, and some took a different path. But they all had something in common, and that was power.

Each of them was the most powerful magician in all of Mossy Vulture.

Dong!

There was a loud ringing of the bell and the entire arena fell silent. This was the moment when the "Tournament of Precious Stones" officially began.

Since Koen and Fane were the organizers, they were supposed to open the tournament, but Koen was inactive. He wasn't going to take part in it, but Fane didn't mind at all doing it.

Fane had thick green hair and gray eyes. He stood up from his seat and said with a satisfied smile on his face: "Hello, everyone I know and don't know, maybe we'll become friends or maybe enemies, it doesn't matter that much. What did I want to say...? Well.. Ah! Congratulations to everyone on the start of the "Tournament of Precious Stones"! I hope it will be interesting!"