The Greatest Sinner

Looking at the closed door, Zak headed straight for it. Margaret put her cup of tea aside and pulled out a small, silver key.

Click.

The door creaked open, Zak and the girl stepped inside. Evan dusted himself off and quickly followed them.

They walked slowly down a long, stone corridor until wooden doors began to appear. Evan saw four more doors.

Without any prompting or reminder, Margaret opened one of them and went away, leaving them alone.

"Come in." Zak stepped into the room and Evan followed him.

Once inside, Evan didn't know what to say. He was stunned by the sight of the room. The room was small, but just right for one person. However, that wasn't the most important thing.

Crystals, an insane variety of crystals, all different colors and sizes were inside the walls throughout the room.

Evan didn`t know what they were for, but they looked magical.

As for Zak, he seemed to pay no attention to all the beauty in the room and proceeded to explain.

"Take a seat. No magician can call himself one unless he has mana." Saying this, Zak sat down on the cold, stone floor.

Evan did the same, still staring mesmerized at the dozens of crystals in front of him.

With a sigh, Zak said seriously: "The main difference between the magicians and ordinary people, is not that they are able to use magic, but it's all about the ability to accumulate mana and use it."

Evan didn't answer anything, just nodded his head affirmatively.

"Magicians can get mana almost anywhere and anytime. Even in the middle of a clearing or dense forest where there seemed to be no hint of magic. Mana hovers right in the air."

Zak spoke slowly and clearly. He didn't feel like repeating it all over again. So he hoped Evan would understand everything at once.

"These crystals are special, each of them costs a lot. But they greatly increase the rate of mana accumulation. In other words, the "Creation".

"Creation?" Evan didn't really understand the meaning of the word. He still knew very little about this world, and about the system of magic, which turned out to be much more complex and interesting than in his past life.

"Yes, it`s the period of time when a magician is busy accumulating mana. As well as trying to increase his powers, but all in order. Close your eyes and enter "Nirvana"

Evan did exactly as Zak said. A moment later, Evan saw again the crimson orb hovering in the middle of the vast void in front of him.

"I'm in "Nirvana." The young man said quietly.

Zak smiled slightly: "Your task is to feel the mana around you. There's plenty of it, and make your "Warp" rotate, thereby infusing it with mana."

The explanations were rather complicated and unfamiliar, but Evan seemed to understand everything.

He was focused and relaxed. Evan understood that this was a complicated case, so he needed to take time.

Whoosh.

Gradually, the pale blue particles, resembling bubbles appeared in the middle of the void in his "Nirvana". They floated peacefully next to each other.

Then, all he needed was to make the crimson orb rotate. But it was much easier than he had imagined.

As soon as he thought about it, his "Warp" began to rotate slowly, gradually gaining speed. Eventually, because of the high speed of the crimson orb, the pale blue bubbles began to fly toward it.

Seeing this scene, Evan smiled contentedly, but this was only the beginning. The best part was yet to come.

After a while, the "Warp" accelerated quite a bit. Its speed was so high that it was literally sucking mana into itself like a vortex.

<Unbelievable>. Evan watched as pale blue streams resembling rivers swirled around the crimson orb and gradually disappeared into it.

From the satisfied expression on Evan's face, Zak knew it had gone well. Once again, he was sure he had not made a mistake about this boy.

Without disturbing Evan, Zak quietly got up and left the room, leaving him alone.

It was difficult to say how much time had passed or how much mana Evan had managed to get, but suddenly, a transparent blob appeared inside the orb, at the very top. It slowly fell to the bottom of the "Warp".

...

Swing. Swing. Swing.

Zak trained hard, swinging the giant sword with the incredible speed.

The sun was high in the sky, scorching furiously. The heat was so intense that shade seemed to be the only escape. Even so, Zak continued to train, for he was used to this extreme.

<I think it's time to check on Evan. It's been four days and I haven't heard anything from him.>

In fact, magicians could work on "Creation" for many days. For powerful magicians, a few years was like a blink of an eye. But not for a rookie like Evan. He was supposed to be exhausted in a couple of hours. But it`s been four days.

Zak wiped the sweat off and headed for the underground floor, straight for the room with the crystals.

Click.

He opened the door and was about to say something, but he couldn't get a word out.

An unbelievable picture that he simply couldn`t have imagined appeared before his eyes. Some of the crystals were very pale, as if they were living out their last seconds. And next to Evan, there were the gray fragments of completely depleted crystals.

You could tell that in four days of being in this room, Evan had somehow managed to drain a good quarter of all the crystals.

Zak was amazed to the core for he had an idea why it had happened.

...

Every magician has his or her own "Warp", which looks like a sphere. Most have it white one, but those who are labeled geniuses have it purple. It's a well-known fact.

A magician's power depends on how many ends his or her "Warp" has. And here we come to the most important and complicated thing. How do you increase the number of ends on your "Warp" and turn it into a real "Star" instead of a floating sphere?

Imagine the most ordinary white "Warp" of an average magician. In fact, inside the white sphere, there is another sphere into which the already condensed mana enters and turns into a transparent substance called - "Void Liquid"

The moment when the magician begins to "Create", only the outer shell of the "Warp" begins to rotate. The inner shell in which "Void Liquid" is located remains stationary.

And what about mana? While the outer shell is spinning, it collects mana from its surroundings. It enters the space between the two shells. This is the mana the magician consumes while using the various spells.

Excess mana condenses and turns into "Void Liquid". But even for one drop, you need a huge amount of mana, for the collection of which you will have to spend a lot of time. This is where the first difference between the white "Warp" and the purple one comes in.

Magicians who have purple "Warp" absorb mana from the environment much faster. Even condensing and turning the excess into "Void Liquid" noticeably increases its rate.

That's why the scene where the magician with the white "Warp" completely depleted several crystals filled with mana seemed to Zak just an impossible thing.