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CHAPTER 63
🕑 Added 2025-06-29 13:55:35 +0000 UTCAidan's bio-suit flowed away from his body, retracting into the crimson Umbrella tattoo on his wrist. He stood in the center of the courtyard, breathing heavily but smiling, and looked at Mordo, who was shaking out his now-numb hand.
"Mage Mordo," Aidan teased, "you lack physical fortitude. How can you expect to be a proper melee mage if you tire so easily?"
Mordo shot him a withering glare as he retrieved and put on his discarded boot. He scattered the fiery energy from his Sword of the Vishanti. "And what, precisely, was that suit?" he asked, his curiosity overriding his annoyance. "Some new armor?"
"Biological reproductive equipment," Aidan explained, flexing the hand with the tattoo. "It enhances a person's strength and speed, and the integrated combat chip provides predictive analysis. Otherwise," he admitted with a grin, "you would have had me on the ground in the first few encounters."
"And it does not affect your ability to cast magic?" Mordo asked, intrigued.
"No, it's like wearing a second skin. My eventual goal," Aidan added, a thoughtful look in his eyes, "is to see if it can be transformed into a magic weapon itself. To inscribe runes directly onto its cellular structure, to make the suit not just a vessel for magic, but a magical being in its own right."
"It sounds like you intend to study alchemy," Mordo said, his surprise evident. "A lot of the ancient knowledge about that art has been lost. It is not an easy path to walk."
"I plan to go to Asgard after my studies here are complete," Aidan said confidently. "I suspect they have a great deal of related magical knowledge."
"And getting there is not so easy," Mordo countered, shaking his head.
"For me," Aidan said with a proud, unshakable smirk, "it should be."
What else Mordo wanted to say was cut short. He saw a figure approaching and his entire demeanor changed, his back straightening as he bowed his head respectfully. "Master Ancient One."
Aidan turned as well. "Master," he said, offering his own respectful nod.
The Ancient One glided toward them, her gaze fixed on Aidan. Mordo, recognizing this was a private conversation, gave a curt nod and left them alone.
"I have been observing you for a while, Aidan Parker," she began, her voice calm and melodic. "I find that you are sensitive and eager to learn. You have a powerful thirst for knowledge, and you possess an absolute, innate control over the energy you channel. You seem to be curious about everything in this universe." She paused. "But you suppress that curiosity. You rein it in."
"There is always a 'but' after such praise," Aidan noted, his eyebrows raised, any trace of complacency gone.
"You don't trust anyone," the Ancient One stated simply, her gaze penetrating.
Aidan did not refute it. "No one has yet proven themselves worthy of my complete trust."
"I believe you will meet someone you can fully trust in the future," she said, a hint of sadness in her voice. "That is something only time can witness."
"Perhaps," Aidan shrugged indifferently. He then changed the subject, his tone becoming more formal. "Master, with your permission, I would like to begin a course of self-study for the remainder of my time here."
"Oh?" she asked, a flicker of surprise in her eyes. "Is there something wrong with the curriculum I have set for you?"
"Not at all," Aidan said respectfully. "But I have already read and integrated all the books on basic magic you provided, including the literature on potions and enchanting. I did not come here merely to learn how to use magic, but to fundamentally study it. Spells like that," he held up his hand, "don't hold much mystery for me anymore."
As he spoke, he held a virtual point of power in one hand, covered it with the fist of the other, and then separated his hands. A blade of pure, incandescent fire, its edges woven from intricate, burning mandalas, slowly took shape between his palms. It was a perfect, stable replica of the Sword of the Vishanti that Mordo had just struggled to maintain. After a few moments, the fiery sword disappeared from his hands. I can copy any program I see, he thought. But to write my own, to create a new spell from scratch… that requires an understanding of the universe's source code that I do not yet possess.
The Ancient One was silent for a long while, her expression unreadable. She had still, somehow, underestimated the boy's talent.
"Come with me," she finally said. "You require a safer place to study." She led him back to the great hall where they had first met. She came to the center of the hall and threw her hand to the side. The very air before them seemed to crack, the sound like a universe of shattering glass. The space fractured into a million crystalline shards before resolving into a strange, distorted version of the room they were in.
"Follow me," she said, and stepped directly into the shimmering rift, disappearing from view.
Aidan glanced at the strange spatial barrier, then, without hesitation, walked in after her. The moment he stepped through, he felt a profound sense of dislocation, as if time and space were being twisted around him. He found himself in the same hall, yet different. He saw two acolytes adding tea to a table, but as he reached out, his hand passed through them like a phantom.
"This is the Mirror Dimension," the Ancient One explained. "It exists parallel to our own, a perfect reflection, but it cannot be detected by the outside world. Whatever happens here has no effect on reality." As she spoke, she pressed her hands down sharply, and the entire world around them distorted. The city outside the windows twisted and folded in on itself like a complex piece of origami. "We train here. We monitor events here. And sometimes," her voice grew serious, "we use it to isolate threats." The pressing hands began to rise, and the twisted space quickly returned to its original state.
"It seems you want me to study here," Aidan said, curiously touching a table, his fingers passing through its surface.
"Yes," she confirmed. "Without a Sling Ring, it is very difficult for you to leave this place on your own. So, until you have acquired the ability to traverse dimensions by your own power, you will continue your studies here." She turned, her hands behind her back, and walked back toward the shimmering rift she had created.
"Remember to have someone deliver my meals on time!" Aidan shouted at her retreating back.
In the silent, strange reality of the Mirror Dimension, Aidan's true education began. He and the Ancient One sat cross-legged opposite each other.
"There are three fundamental sources of power for a sorcerer," she began. "The first is our personal mystical energy. The power of the spirit, what some cultures call qi or a soul. It is the energy you generate from within, and it fuels arts like astral projection and telepathy. To master it, you must cultivate your own mind and spirit."
"The second is Universal Energy. This is the power drawn from the world around us. We use incantations, which you rightly identified as a form of code, to tap into the ambient magical energy of our own dimension to create shields, portals, and other tangible effects."
"The third," she said, her voice growing grave, "is extra-dimensional energy. This is the most powerful, and by far the most dangerous. We petition, bargain with, or siphon power from entities that exist in other dimensions—beings like the Vishanti, Cyttorak, or the Faltine. But this power always comes with a price. You are borrowing from beings whose minds and motives are beyond our comprehension."
"And these are the beings that invade our dimension?" he asked.
"Yes," she nodded. "Their invasion not only causes spatial instability, but can create a rift that could lead to the destruction of Earth itself. That is why the first Sorcerer Supreme, Agamotto, established three Sanctums on Earth—in New York, London, and Hong Kong. They are nexus points of power, and they form a protective shield around our world. We, the Masters of the Mystic Arts, are sworn to protect them."
"And the Eye of Agamotto was created by him as well," Aidan stated.
The Ancient One looked at him, a flicker of surprise in her eyes. "You know of it?"
"I have read a great deal of your literature," Aidan said seriously. "I know the history of each generation of Sorcerer Supreme." He looked at her, his gaze analytical. "And you are the current Supreme. Based on the literature regarding the lineage, and the known lifespan-extending properties of certain dimensional energies you have likely drawn upon… I calculate your current age to be approximately three hundred years, give or take a decade."
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KingSpy25i .
Thank you for the great chapter 🙏
