Chapter 13: Ancient One's Voice Call Invitation
Chapter 13: Ancient One's Voice Call Invitation
After depressing Batman that night, Schiller returns to the Marvel universe. Having buffed Stark up, with Daredevil hiding from the hunt from foes, and Spider-Man, newly empowered but not yet a superhero, Schiller has nothing to do.
Since that night, Schiller realizes he has another opportunity for a random chat. It seems that whenever he influences a character significantly in a world, he gets a chance for a random chat match. Clearly, his conversation with Batman has a profound impact.
Schiller decides to use this chance during his downtime. Professor Charles is busy recruiting, and Spider-Man, too excited by his new abilities, isn't replying to messages. With no one else to chat with, Schiller feels quite lonely.
Thus, he uses his random chat opportunity, and a voice call interface suddenly appears in his mind, something Charles or Spider-Man never triggered.
They both replied by text with a chat box in Schiller's mind, but this time, it is direct voice.
Schiller sees the profile photo: the Ancient One!!!
The Ancient One sends you a voice call invitation; do you accept or reject it? If accepted, what do you say?
Schiller scratches his head but finally decides to accept.
"…The mysterious sounds of the cosmos, from where do you hail…"
Schiller receives a series of sounds, although calling them sounds isn't accurate; they are more like thoughts and brainwaves. Schiller doesn't hear any sound but understands the intentions from the other side.
Schiller also replies with thoughts: "…Who are you?"
Seated cross-legged on a cushion atop the Himalayas, The Ancient One meditates deeply. Suddenly, she frowns; a voice responds to her.
The Ancient One often seeks answers through meditation from the chaotic symphony of the universe. The various echoes in the cosmos represent different mystical omens in her mind. She can divine, clear her mind, and achieve peace by listening to these cosmic sounds.
However, these cosmic sounds are always disorganized noise without any logical notes. The Ancient One firmly believes that any conscious entities wandering the universe are the future cosmic demons.
Thus, she immediately becomes more alert and fully concentrates her mind. Her thoughts are incredibly powerful, capable of scanning all nearby universes instantaneously, but she finds nothing abnormal after scanning.
The voice that responds to her seems to appear out of nowhere, without origin, nor any energy anomalies.
Schiller knows the Ancient One is strong. If integrated with comic book settings, she would be several times stronger than in the movies. And the current Sorcerer Supreme has narrow resemblance with the young Batman; she is in her prime. Still, Schiller decides to take a risk .
He says, "…answer me…answer me…"
"…No matter where you are from, no matter who you are… stay away from Earth!" the Ancient One replies firmly.
"…Guardian of Earth?…answer me…"
"I am the Earth's Sorcerer Supreme… Who are you… Why are you sending cosmic signals…"
"I come from Carcosa… the Aldebaran,Lake of Hali… The black sun is already high in the sky…"
The Ancient One receives a series of incomprehensible messages from the other side. She knows that connecting with an unknown entity in the universe is dangerous, but she must determine whether the other party poses a threat to Earth.
The information is abstruse, but the Ancient One hears a few recurring pieces: Carcosa, Hastur, Lake of Hali.
After a nonsensical exchange, she almost understands—the other side seems to be warning her. She hears a repeated phrase: "When the stars are right, the Old Ones shall return…"
The Ancient One suspects the person on the other side might be called "Hastur," living in a place called Carcosa, with a "Lake of Hali" shrouded in thick fog. His enemies, the deities known as "Old Ones," will return to Earth when the stars align.
Under the Ancient One's persistent inquiries, she learns that the being is imprisoned and thus cannot confront his enemies. He spreads the signal near Earth as a warning to humans.
But the Ancient One knows humans cannot hear the cosmic signals due to their different life forms and would not understand the alien language without her meditation.
Even the Ancient One cannot fully comprehend the brainwave signals coming through. The information is too dense, with mentions of the Old Ones, the chief deity Azathoth, and others. The entity seems desperate to convey everything, but unfortunately, the Ancient One does not fully understand him.
She is also wary of this unknown cosmic entity. She does not feel its presence, nor does she feel that Earth is under any extra surveillance, but the entity's warning attitude still pressures her. What new demons have emerged?
Moreover, if they can silently come near Earth to spread signals, who can assure that they will not affect human minds?
After many years as the Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One's concerns are warranted. If the story is not fabricated by Schiller, the mythos of Cthulhu would be an extremely contaminating source.
Fortunately, this is just a story made up by Schiller to bluff the Ancient One out.
Just as the Ancient One seeks to probe further, the communication cuts off, as if the other side encountered trouble.
The entity did not make any demands or offer to lend power to anyone and did not talk about ruling the universe nonsense, which makes the Ancient One somewhat believe it.
Demons rarely conceal; they cannot contain their madness and chaos. If the entity was dangerous, the experienced Ancient One would surely track the signal and destroy it.
Now, it seems the demon is gentle and rational, but the Ancient One is not letting down her guard, as appearances can be deceiving.
Schiller has mastered the art of leaving things half-said, cutting off the call before the Ancient One can ask more. He rubs his hands, intending to copy the Ancient One's abilities.
One tap, and the system prompt announces, "Magical abilities (low-level) have been loaded."
Schiller knows the Ancient One's powers must be mystic and related to magic.
After loading the magic abilities, Schiller begins testing. He finds the powers mixed blessing.
The advantage is that he does not have to abide by Marvel's magic settings. Schiller can cast spells without a price or side effects. The bad news is that these are indeed low-level magical abilities, limiting Schiller to telekinesis, flame magic, and short-range teleportation, or "blinking."
The range of telekinesis is approximately 10 meters, akin to a levitation spell. Within 10 meters, Schiller can freely move objects, but only those that do not exceed his own body weight. Items like houses or cars are immovable.
The flame spell lacks aggressive power. Schiller is able to ignite a small flame in the palm of his hand. The flame's strength is about enough to create a puff of smoke or burn a piece of paper or a book, but it is hardly sufficient for causing injury to a person.
Blinking is the most useful, allowing Schiller to appear or disappear within a 20-meter radius, enough to avoid many dangers.
Although using magic does not require a price, it consumes physical and mental energy. After five or six consecutive blinks, Schiller becomes too tired to stand, and his focus is affected due to excessive magic use.
Compared to the high costs other Marvel sorcerers face when casting spells, Schiller is lucky.
The abilities are labeled "low-level," indicating they might be upgradable, but Schiller has yet to find an upgrade method. He speculates that it might involve increasing intimacy with characters, helping them, or even saving them to obtain higher-level abilities.
In extreme situations, continuous blinking lets Schiller move over 100 meters in a short time, even through walls.
Schiller can now appear in a house two streets away from his clinic in an instant, making it impossible for S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to track him. What good news!
S.H.I.E.L.D. agents have long been on his tail in Hell's Kitchen. But as his exception, it is difficult due to the locals' wariness of outsiders and hindrances to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operations, like being extorted when renting property near Schiller's clinic.
Ever since Schiller starts using the blink ability to leave, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents have been utterly baffled. They clearly never see Schiller exit, but after a while, he will return walking down the street. Or they see him leave and not return, yet somehow, he reappears inside the clinic shortly afterward.
This completely disrupts S.H.I.E.L.D. agents' predictions about Schiller's comings and goings.
But this only cements Nick Fury's belief that Schiller is an unpredictable and dangerous individual, particularly with his increasing interactions with Stark—this is not good news.
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intent to exploit Stark, made evident by their body language, suggests that Nick Fury wants to use Stark's sense of justice to serve S.H.I.E.L.D.'s purposes.
And it's not just S.H.I.E.L.D. agents encountering strange situations, Schiller himself has noticed odd occurrences around the clinic in recent days. It was conclusively confirmed for him that there's a thief after once again finding four pounds of cake missing from the fridge.