The Greatest Sinner

Evan smiled as he watched the one-eyed raven greedily drink his blood. It seemed as if the raven was capable of drinking it endlessly.

"AHAHA, the monster is drinking my blood and I let it do it. It's a very strange yet pleasant sensation. If someone saw me now, they'd think I was crazy."

Evan was right. He was indeed doing something crazy at that moment. Some magicians had strong links with the beasts that were not hostile to humans. Moreover, some magicians fought alongside the beasts as their most loyal companions. Although such magicians were few in number, they were nothing out of the ordinary. 

Nevertheless, Evan's case was unprecedented, not only had the monster save him, but now the young man himself willingly let the monster drink his blood. It was strange, creepy, and inexplicable.

Whoosh.

After a while, the raven stopped drinking Evan's blood, took a few flaps of its wings, and landed on the young man's shoulder.

Evan looked at his wound and thought, "Wow, it's drunk more blood than I expected. Still, it seemed to be in high spirits. It clearly enjoyed drinking my blood. What's more, its little scar healed instantly. The monsters' ability to devour other creatures' flesh and blood and become stronger is truly incredible."

The loss of so much blood could not have caused Evan to suffer any serious consequences. But at the moment, his well-being was not the best. He needed to rest, but it was very difficult to find a secluded and safe place in the "Half-Dead Forest".

"Hey, do you understand me?" Evan turned to the raven.

Caw! Caw! Caw!

"Fine." Evan was glad the monster understood him.

<Perhaps, it understands me because it's pretty strong and also evolved. The "Bloody Berserker" had made some quite smart decisions during the fight. Moreover, It knew which of us were the most vulnerable targets, and who to attack first. I guess it's true that the stronger the monster, the smarter it is."

Evan looked at the remains of the students and the monster lying on the ground and thought, <Hmm. I think I need to get out of this forest, I am lucky enough that the raven remembers me and did not attack.>

As the young man was about to leave the "Half-Dead Forest", suddenly the raven began circling around him, as if trying to say something.

"А? You want me to go the other way?" Evan asked puzzled.

The raven didn't respond in any way and just kept flapping its wings to one side.

"Shit, what the hell is going on. Why does every trip, I take to these woods, end in some strange adventure. Come on, let's go. I`m curious to see what's there." Evan said with a wave of his hand.

The raven settled down on Evan's shoulder.

Evan didn't know where the raven was leading him, but he couldn't turn back now. For the first time in his life, a monster was showing him the way. He couldn't miss such an opportunity.

Step. Step. Step.

Evan walked in the indicated direction, looking around.

<What a strange and vast forest it is after all. Dozens of trees are practically right next to each other, but some of them have been dead for a long time. It seems as if the healthy trees are taking all the lifeblood from the dry ones>.

Caw. Caw. Caw.

After a while, they approached the wall and the raven beckoned him again, but this time it was much quieter than the last. 

"What? We're in front of a wall... Where the fuck did you take me?!"

Evan thought there was a secret door or a secret passage or something somewhere nearby. But, in fact, there was nothing like that, there was just a simple ledge out of the ground in front of them.

Caw. Caw. Caw.

The one-eyed raven nodded toward the tree beside Evan. It was much higher than this small ledge.

He nodded and quickly climbed up the tree. The tree was big and its branches were strong, so Evan was on top of it in a minute.

<Hmm?  A monster?">.

From up there, Evan could see exactly what was going on below. The young man watched as a large monster about four meters tall slept peacefully among the trees. It had four paws with sharp, blue claws and thick, red fur.

"Why have you brought me here? Even if you want to kill it, I won't do it. It'll definitely bite my head off and not even blink an eye." Evan said calmly.

Raven didn't respond, so Evan just continued to stare at the sleeping monster. Next to him, just a few meters away, lay the mangled carcass of some animal. Apparently, the red monster didn't care about it. Whoosh.

Suddenly the monster similar to that had fought against the two students, emerged from behind the trees. It slowly crept up to the animal carcass and started eating it. It was a simple scavenger. Since the red monster was asleep, it had nothing to fear.

Bam.

Suddenly, with the speed of lightning, the red monster's paw came crashing down on the scavenger.

<I... didn't even see anything... unimaginable speed.> Evan was stunned by this sudden and deadly attack.

Crack.

The monster's paw clenched, and at the same moment, the hundreds of plates on the scavenger's body began to crack and break. They could not withstand such tremendous pressure. In just a few moments, the monster was dead. What's more, the monster didn't even rise to his feet, all it had to do was wave his paw. But, then even more incredible things began to happen.

The red monster wouldn't eat the scavenger it had killed, but it also wouldn't toss it aside.

Whoosh.

Suddenly the monster's blue claws glowed, and the scavenger's body began to shrink. Its flesh dried out until only skin and bone remained. After a minute, there was nothing left of the monster at all. By now the blue claws were glowing very brightly.

Bam.

The red monster dug its blue claws deep into the ground and released all the energy it had stored in them. The next moment, the dry tree next to the monster began to come to life. Its trunk and branches filled with life, and green leaves instantly appeared on its branches.

Just a few seconds ago this tree was lifeless, but now it was definitely full of strength - in an instant, the dry wood turned into a flowering tree.

<It's amazing that it can do this... and what kind of ability is that? Has this monster evolved?>

Evan thought and at the same moment, his "Warp" spun. He was going to use the "Eye of Truth" and find out the power of this monster.