The Greatest Sinner

Evan watched as the two students who had just entered the Academy fought against the monster. At the moment they were in the "Half-Dead Forest", well-known as a home of many dangerous creatures.

Last time Evan had also fought one monster from the "Half-Dead Forest", but this one was very different at all.

The monster looked dangerous and intimidating. Its body resembled that of an enormous forest wolf, but that was where the similarities ended. Its entire body was covered in smooth and sharp plates. They were pressed together so tightly that not even a sword blade could fit through them.

To Evan's surprise, the monster's claws were very short, but also unusually sharp.

The monster's tail was unnaturally large concerning its body. It had no plates, on the contrary, it was fluffy and seemed very soft. The monster's teeth were small and not sharp at all.

<It looks strange...>. Evan thought, scrutinizing the monster.

Whoosh.

One of the young men stepped forward and attacked the monster. He was the "Amplifier" and fought with a long spear with a black tip. The guy tried to pierce the monster's plates, but he failed. The tip of the spear slipped across the smooth plates without doing any damage.

Whoosh.

The monster swung its paw and made a shallow cut on the young man's left arm. Since its claws were short they could not penetrate deep into his flesh.

The guy retreated immediately, and his comrade cast a spell. Several roots emerged from the ground and wrapped around the monster's hind legs. They planned to hold it back in this way, but it was very naive.

Bam.

Without any trouble, the monster destroyed the roots and rushed toward the "Amplifier". The young man stood in the fight pose and blocked the monster's attack, but suddenly the monster turned around and hit him with its tail.

From the outside, it looked very strange. Why attack the opponent with a fluffy tail if you had sharp claws in your arsenal? The answer was pretty obvious - the tail attack did more damage to the young man.

Suddenly there were trickles of blood coming out of the corners of his mouth. Evan knew immediately what was wrong: <I get it, its tail was poisonous. What's more, one touch was enough to poison the man, it's a very formidable weapon.>

The monster's tail wasn't actually furry. It was an illusion, for the fluffy fur was actually thousands of thin, poisonous needles. Once the monster's tail grazed someone, the needles plunged right in the flesh and poisoned the target.

<They're so thin and small, it would be almost impossible to get them out. This guy needs immediate medical attention. The bleeding doesn't stop, and his face has already turned purple. I wonder what the other one will do?> Evan thought, watching the fight.

To his surprise, the second guy cast a few spells and tried to hold the monster down.

Evan expected the young man to run away and abandon his comrade. It was the most immoral but the best option for him in such a situation, but it didn't happen.

The young man was the "Summoner," but he had only recently learned that. For the same reason, he had one spell of Creation Magic in his arsenal.

Whoosh.

A magic circle appeared in the sky and a multitude of wooden stakes came crashing down on the monster.

The spell was quite formidable and wasted a decent amount of mana. There were a lot of stakes, and there was no way to dodge them. The young man smiled, he thought he`d done it.

Whoosh.

Suddenly the monster curled into a ball. The plates all over its body provided excellent protection, and no attack could reach the monster at all.

Bam. Bam. Bam.

The stakes were falling on the monster, but they just bounced off to the sides. They couldn't penetrate the plates.

The young man obviously didn't expect this to happen, he thought he could save his comrade and kill the monster. However, things did not go the way he had planned.

<I wonder what task they took if they had to go into this forest? Was it to kill some monster or were they picking some plants and just had bad luck? Either way, they are real idiots for coming here.> Evan thought as he watched the monster run towards the young man.

Even Evan wouldn't dare go to the "Half-Dead Forest". Sure, he came here today, but only because of the one-eyed raven, and he only had walked the trail and came down. He had already once fought a monster from this forest and almost died.

Whoosh.

The monster quickly got to the young man and attacked him. At the same moment, a wall of fire appeared in front of the monster

A wall of fire should have stopped him, but the monster just walked through it.

Whoosh.

  It swung its tail and quickly stepped back. The second young man was also poisoned, but he immediately pulled a blue pill from the pouch. Moreover, he threw exactly the same one to his comrade.  In just a few seconds, all the poison was neutralized. They were mages with purple "Warp", which meant the Family or Clan they belonged to had wasted a lot of resources on them. These pills the young man had taken from home, not bought in the city.

<They had neutralized the poison, but how many more of those pills had left? Moreover, the wounds weren`t going anywhere. If they want to survive they need to run as soon as possible.>

Evan came here to watch the battle, he wasn't going to help anyone. He didn't know these two men, so he wasn't going to protect them. He didn't care about them. If they were to be torn apart now by this monster now, they had only themselves to blame.

Evan's thoughts were quite cruel, but he couldn't pay attention to all the idiots who had gotten themselves into danger. If they had been his friends or comrades he would have saved them, but otherwise, Evan wouldn't bat an eyelid.

<One should spend his energies saving the people that really matter to you, not worrying about everyone> Evan thought this way.

Evan hated people who tried to help and save everyone. Of course, some of them were really sincere. But the vast majority of them were actually hypocrites - that's what annoyed Evan.

The young man with his spear in his hands gathered all his strength and prepared to fight again. They were not going to retreat, each of them wanted to kill the monster.

Nevertheless, they were in a bad position. The monster was unharmed, and they were wounded and had already used up two precious pills.

Whoosh.

The monster rushed towards the two youths, opened its mouth, and at that moment, the students simultaneously attacked. Evan watched the denouement of their battle closely, the next moment his eyes opened widely.

Whoosh. Boom.

Suddenly a broad purple beam came from somewhere, carrying only the death. Its power and speed were unbelievable. It hit the ground right between the guys and the monster.

In the same second, there was a deafening explosion. It was so powerful that both the monster and the two rookie mages were blown apart. They died in an instant.