62 The Eye of True North
A/N: Patreon: HelloDarkness07
I'd like to say that I am taking a week long break from writing. Which means, I also won't be posting anything for 7 days. So.. 2 chapters lol.
The break is because I need to recover from my sleep deprivation and my depression, by taking a relaxing week. Hopefully.
Also, as you might notice in this chapter, and the ones with Sly. I cannot write Pets very well. Heck, I can barely write humans as is, but writing animals are worse. So, sorry!
Well, read on!
—
"SCREEEEE!" A high pitched voice sounds from up above, as I rest on the beach. One after the other, six dragons fly overhead, all of them around two feet in length. The seventh dragon laid on the beach with me, with his head on my chest.
Scratching his head gently, I enjoy the peace and quiet I'm getting. It has been three months since the dragons hatched, taking the dragon population of Sanctuary up from zero, to seven. The one currently sleeping beside me was the laziest of the bunch, named Okniros, while the others were pretty energetic.
Hearing a splash, I turn towards the sea, and watch the water rippling, thanks to one of my dragons diving in. Within a second, Mana, the oldest of the bunch flies out of the water, a fish in her mouth. With a single motion, she throws the fish into the air, fries it with her flames, and once again catches it in her mouth to eat it.
She then drops on the beach to my left, and curls up next to me, her own head on my chest. I ask, ~~Enjoy yourself, Mana?~~
Mana looks up at me, and screeches at me. While she does that however, I hear the words hidden underneath the loud voice of screeching, as she says, ~~Yes, I did, Father! We saw Unicorns today!~~
I smile at her excitement, and scratch her own head. I say, ~~Be careful with the Unicorns, they don't like it when someone harms one of them.~~
Seven dragons, four females, three males. Mana, Okniros, Peinon, Filotimo, Zilevo, Aplistia, and Thymos. All of them named after their most dominant personality traits. Mana is motherly, Okniros is lazy, Peinon is a gluton for food, Filotimo is prideful, Zilevo is envious of any attention I give to anyone else, Aplistia is greedy as hell, and Thymos is the one to get angry the easiest. Of these, Mana, Aplistia, Thymos and Peinon are females, while the other three are males.
Not exactly creative names, but they do suit my dragons well.
Speaking of, here they come. After their own swims in the ocean, for fishes, all the remaining five dragons dive at me, with Zilevo jumping on my stomach.
"Oof! Goddamnit, Zi!" I yelp, catching him on my stomach.
As they all cuddle next to me, however, I can't help but smile. They might be a bit annoying, but they're my dragons, and I love them a lot.
It has been three months since they've hatched, and I've been here on Sanctuary for the majority of the time, taking care of these babies. In the beginning, they were pretty much dependent on me for survival, drinking chicken blood mixed with Fermented goat milk for food. But now, they've begun hunting for their own food.
They eat all the small animals, as well as fish. Thankfully, the dragons don't eat any Magical creatures, at least none on or around Sanctuary. I don't know if this holds true for all dragons, or just these ones, but I'm glad for it.
I did go to visit Chandragupta once, and spoke with him for a while about Magic, and about Parseltongue while staying with his family as a guest. I have to say, I enjoyed his perspective on what Magic is, and what Parseltongue can do.
According to him, and the other Mages of the area, Magic was given to us mages by the Gods, through a blessing to our ancestors. Which is.. kinda true, if Oshtur is actually our creator. According to him, Magic is a force present everywhere in the Universe, since the God Brahma is supposed to be the Creator of the Entire Universe, and hence a Mage can use Magic no matter where in the Universe you go.
This I had a bit of doubt in. While Sorcerers are connected to the Universe, Wizards, or Mages, are not. Mages are connected to the planet. We do have Magic of our own, but most of our spells utilise Planetary Magic to accomplish Magic. Us Mages are just the Channels, sort of like Wands.
Parselmouths, according to Hindu mythology, is a gift given to the descendants of Goddess Manasa, the Snake Goddess. It is a Magical language, and it is actually possible to cast spells in the language. I have no idea why I never tried it, but after he showed me some simple spells, I couldn't help but feel stupid.
I'd tried saying Lumos in Parseltongue before, with a whole lot of focus and willpower. It did light up, but it only happened because of my willpower and focus, not because of Parseltongue.
Just like Greek, Latin, and Egyptian, Parseltongue is a language that's steeped in Magic. You just need to focus on the effect, and say the effect you want clearly. Lumos is Latin, I basically said the Parseltongue translation of a Latin word, which.. did not work.
~~Light.~~ I whisper, as a bright green orb floats out of my chest and remains in the air in front of me.
Unfortunately, Chandragupta refused to teach me anything about Divination, since whatever he can teach me is supposed to only be taught to his family, and his Apprentice. And I am none of them.
He did point me towards the Nalanda University, which takes students all year round. And for some reason, the Magadha region loves Greek people! So, I had planned on going there soon, I was just waiting for the babies to grow old enough to survive on their own.
And now that my babies are independent enough, I can finally leave them to live on Sanctuary on their own. But, nothing says I need to leave right at this moment, while being surrounded by my babies.
---
Walking through the gates of the Nalanda University, I look around with a smile. The architecture here reminded me of the temples I'd seen in my old life, with thick stone walls, carved with the idols of Gods, and the tales of old.
This.. was very nostalgic, and even if I'd left that identity behind, I can't help but feel glad that I'm here.
"Hello, can I help you?" An old man asks in Magadhi Prakrit, the most common language in the Magadha region, which is basically modern day Northeast India, as he approaches me.
Smiling at him, I put my palms together in a hello, bow a bit, and say, "My name is Atharva Joshi." Hey, it's not Brown-face if I actually was a brown guy once. "I am a Mage travelling from the Satavahana Dynasty, here to exchange knowledge."
Bowing back, the old man says, "Nice to meet you, Mage Atharva. I am Brahmaprasad, a Professor here at the Mahavihara. Come, walk with me, and tell me. What do you hope to gain? And, may I ask what do you have to offer?"
As we start walking, I say, "I have spent two years studying in the Great Library of Alexandria, Mahaguru Brahmaprasad. Master Onuris, the Librarian responsible for safeguarding Magical Knowledge allowed me to copy a few texts. I am hoping to exchange some of those texts for any books on Divination, and Souls that the Great Nalanda Mahavihara can grant me."
"Hmm." Brahmaprasad says, as he stops and stares at me. I keep my head low, since the culture this far back demands complete respect be given to the teachers. To be fair, the teachers here are less of arseholes than they're in the future.
He nods, and says, "I will allow an exchange of one book per book. Equal exchange, as the way things should be. Of course, the value of the books you grant us will be decided after I read it, and then, a similarly valued book will be granted to you in return. Is that acceptable, Mage Atharva?"
Considering that what I have is just books from the Royal Mage Library, and hence pretty damn important knowledge, I have no objection to that. Plus, I'm just granting copies, permanent copies, but copies just the same.
Nodding with a short bow, I say, "That is acceptable, Mahaguru. Do I have permission to peruse your Library in the meantime?"
Mahaguru Brahmaprasad nods, as he once more begins walking, and says, "You may visit the Library, but you won't be allowed to copy any of the Tomes there. The only knowledge you will be taking with you is what you exchange, and what you manage to read in the short while."
I smirk, having no problem with it at all. My reading speed is.. extraordinarily fast, is all I can say. We then go to a classroom, where Mahaguru Brahmaprasad asks me to put forward all the books I'm willing to grant them.
From the mokeskin pouch, I take out one book after another, all of them with some manner of highly advanced knowledge. Three on Staff Crafting, seven on Egyptian Enchantments, nine on Curses and Dark Wards, five books on Alchemy, six on Protective Wards, four on Egyptian Rituals, and ten books that were a compendium of Greek and Egyptian Spells, categorized by Charms, Curses, Hexes, Transfigurations, and Miscellaneous. Obviously, all of them were translated to Sanskrit. I did not come unprepared.
The spell books might not be of much use to them, since the spells and all are in different languages than the ones the people here speak, but they can take inspiration from these books. The other books will definitely be of a lot of use here, especially the Staff Crafting, Alchemy, and Ritual books.
As the Mahaguru starts reading, he asks a student named Vijaya to guide me to the Library, and to stay with me, to see that I don't break my word. Jokes on him, I'm not planning on copying this Library.. yet. I'm just waiting to craft a specific spell, one that I know can be done.
But right now, I'm going to just read.
---
"You didn't tell me you read this fast." Mahaguru Brahmaprasad says, as he enters the library. While his words were of accusation, his tone was of amusement.
Chuckling, I put the book on Soul Enhancing Rituals down, and glance at the 60 books that were kept all around me on the table. Those were the books I'd finished reading since I had entered the Library. Which was 90 minutes ago.
Smiling at Mahaguru Brahmaprasad, I say, "I have always been a fast reader, it helps me not waste too much time."
But, what I'm doing is memorizing pages, not actually reading them. It still takes me at least quarter of a second to memorize a single page, and store it in my mind's Library, which is why it took me 90 minutes to read just 60 books.
Brahmaprasad smiles, shakes his head, and says, "Well, carry on. An agreement is an agreement. The other Professors are currently enjoying reading the material you brought us, so I wanted to ask you. What subject matter would you want the books for?"
I'd already decided on my subjects, so I don't have to think a lot before I answer, "I would prefer books that give a detailed study of Divination, Soul Magic, Rituals, and Parselmagic. Whatever you believe to be a suitable exchange will be appreciated, Mahaguru Brahmaprasad."
Divination, because that is the one subject I'm the most lacking in. Soul Magic because this one Sanskrit book that I'm actually reading instead of memorizing gave me a lot of revelations. Rituals because.. well I'm hoping to become a Master in them, and Parselmagic because I have no idea what is possible and what's difficult.
Never impossible, I learned that lesson early on.
Nothing's impossible, only difficult or highly improbable, when it comes to Magic. Everything is possible, the price of the spell however, increases with the improbability.
Nodding, Brahmaprasad leaves me to my studies in the Library, and walks out after a small talk with the student who was keeping an eye on me. Ignoring him, I return to the book on Soul Enhancing Rituals book.
I didn't know this was even possible, which is different than believing it impossible. Souls are Souls, I had thought they're a constant, since my memories from my past life did come here, along with some of my personality.
But, it seems a Soul can be changed.
It should have been obvious, since Demons can corrupt human souls, Gods can turn human souls into Divine, etc. Similarly, there are Rituals to change a human's soul completely, or partially. The complete soul changing Rituals change the body too, either just a little, or a lot.
But, until I learn a lot more, I'm sticking to just reading about these Rituals.
---
One Year Later: 51 BC.
The compass that doesn't point North, that is what I'd called this compass that I'd found in the stomach of Drugir the Berserk Dragon. Actually, I'd found it amongst the Possessions of the Witch he'd swallowed whole, but that's besides the point.
Turns out, this Compass was just too heavily enchanted for me to find its purpose without using it. I'd tried detection spells, and a lot of Analysis Spells, and all of them showed that this compass was a plain Magnetic compass.
Nope.
The compass was one that pointed not at the Magnetic North, but whatever object you're in the most need of. This seriously reminds me of the Compass that Captain Jack Sparrow used in the Pirates movie series.
Unfortunately, the compass doesn't tell you what that need is. It could be a subconscious need, and I wouldn't know until I actually find it.
A year after my visit to the Nalanda Mahavihara, or the Nalanda University, and after I'd returned with 11 books on different levels of Divination, and 3 books on Souls, 4 on Soul magic, 13 on Rituals, with 13 books on Parselmagic, I sat in my Experiment room, carving a few Runes on the compass, while a Potion boiled on the table beside me.
Most of the books were journals, and observations of other Mages, and that is good enough for me. I just didn't expect so many people to have studied Parselmagic. That's not counting the hundred or so books I'd read while in the library, the majority of which were Historical Journals and Mythologies.
Back to the Compass, as far as I can tell, it was a Sorcery Artefact, enchanted using the Universal and Dimensional Magics. It, as I said, pointed anyone towards a direction they need to go to find their greatest need.
If a hungry person holds it, the compass will point them towards some free food, if a person is feeling cold, they'll be pointed towards a direction where they might find some warmth, etc. It always points towards where they will most definitely find that need with minimal work on their part. So, a hungry poor person won't find food from an expensive hotel.
What I'm trying to do, is mix my knowledge of Divination and Arithmancy to basically change the purpose of the Compass.
Instead of pointing me towards the direction of my Need, it will point me towards the direction of my Want, and take me there.
Done with the Runes, I float the compass over my hand, drop it into the bubbling Potion, and whisper, "Enischýo!"
Which means Enhance.
Immediately, the Potion bubbles faster, and the compass is thrown out of it, now with a soft white glow to it. Floating it over my hand, I drop one drop of my blood on the centre, to bind it to me, and take something else out of Nowhere.
Felix Felicus, Liquid Luck Potion. I'd only found it recently in Nowhere, hidden inside some of my old clothes. I might have perfect recall, but I do forget some things it seems.
For someone with Occlumency provided perfect memory, I forget a lot of stuff. Ironic, I know.
I open the bottle cap, and drop a single drop on top of the compass, right where my blood was. And then, as the compass flashes in a gold light once, I smile. Time to see if this artefact is a success.
Taking it in my hand, I close my eyes, keeping the image of the Darkhold in my mind, and press the button on top of it. Immediately, I feel some sort of Magic surround me. As I open my eyes, I see my body covered in a Golden coloured Magic, the same shade as that of Felix Felicus.
And then, I feel my body get squeezed tightly, as I'm forcefully apparated from the Experiment Room in my castle on Sanctuary to somewhere else. This somewhere else turns out to be a forest in Central Africa, somewhere I'd buried the Darkhold in. The Darkhold was deep underground, where its corruption won't bother anyone, in a lead box enchanted to high hells to not allow anyone but me to open it.
So, this Compass obviously works.
Smiling, I start creating a portal back home, when I suddenly stop, shocked.
I.. just apparated.. from an Island between Africa and India, to Central Africa… which is at least 4000 Kilometres away. That's four times greater than my previous limit, and I don't even feel tired!
Either I'm getting better at Apparating, or the Compass is not limited by distance. Damn, I've made something wonderful again, haven't I?
I'm so smart.
Shaking my head, I create a portal to my Castle, and enter through. Gathering a few things, like a few books to pass the time, some food packed in Nowhere, and a tent I'd prepared and enchanted myself, I hold the compass in my hands once again.
Closing my eyes, this time I focus on the image of the Sands of Time, and the Timeglass. The Glass like stone, golden orange in colour, was made up of the Sands of Time. The ingredient necessary in creating a Time Turner, and my way back home.
Once again, I feel myself twisting through the wormhole of apparition, squeezed through it, and I get thrown out into soft land, thankfully legs first. Wait a minute.. soft?
As I open my eyes, I feel before I see the desert all around me. The heat of the Sun, the softness of the sand, the sound of just wind all around me.
Sighing, I start setting up camp. Of course it's a Desert, where else will I find Sands of Time but a desert?
After the tent is up, and a few Wards cast to protect the tent and surrounding area from storms, I get to work. I couldn't use my Echolocation trick, one that I'd used to find the Diadem in Albania, here. The Sands of Time, while Magical, didn't react to my Magic the same way.
I'd tried to use the Sands that I had access to to try and see if I could find more of it, and failed spectacularly.
So, I'm going to have to do this the old fashioned way.
Bringing my Staff out of Nowhere, I tap its butt on the desert sand once, and smile, feeling a wave of Magic flow out of it into the ground. From the point my staff connected to the ground, to a dozen meters all around, the desert starts flowing to become a plain floor, as it slowly transforms from Sand, to water.
The only place safe from this transfiguration spell is the spot I'm standing on. The tent I'd already placed way outside the limits. Another tap of my staff solidifies the ground around this water, so that it doesn't flow into the small transfigured pond and ruin it.
I nod, at a task well done, and place the staff back into Nowhere, a single call away.
And then, with a wave of my hand, I send my clothes flying off my body towards the Tent, and dive into the Water. As I break the surface of the water with a splash, a single white lumos orb appears above me, to show me the way.
Time to find the Sands of Time, one cylindrical area at a time.
--
It has been seventeen days since I began my search for the Sands of Time, and until now, I haven't found anything even remotely similar. Every day, I would transfigure a piece of the desert into water, and take a deep dive in it.
13 hours a day, I spent underwater, naked, thankfully not freezing my balls off, looking for the golden shimmering dust known as the Sands of Time, or the Timeglass, a stone formed by condensing said Sands of Time.
The Sands of Time cannot be transfigured, at least not normally, so I'm sure I didn't mistakenly transfigure it into water, and then back into Sand again. I would have known, because it would have taken a lot more Magic to do so.
With each Transfiguration spell, I would transfigure a cylindrical volume with a radius of around a dozen meters, and a depth of 100 meters. Then, when I reach the bottom, I cast the spell again, transfiguring the land underneath to Water too. And again, and again.
I did this for a kilometre each time, transfiguring dry solid earth when the Sand ended, and then, I came back up to dispel every transfiguration spell because I couldn't find anything.
But, I haven't lost hope yet. The Sahara Desert, which is where I was brought by the Compass, is a big place. If the Compass brought me here, then it must mean that the Sands of Time are here somewhere, I just need to find it.
On the eighteenth day, as I prepare to transfigure the next patch of the Desert to Water for my Dive in, I am stopped by something surprising.
A voice.
"You don't belong here." The voice, definitely male, says, from behind me, in Greek.
You see, if I wasn't me, I would have believed it to have been an Auditory Hallucination, brought on by 17 days of Heat and loneliness. But I am me, and hence, I am sure that it was no hallucination.
My Healing factor prevents me from getting a Heatstroke, while my mind has already faced worse, longer periods of loneliness from myself.
"You don't belong here." The voice repeats, as I start standing back up from my kneeling position on the desert floor.
Slowly, I turn towards the voice, and see a man in front of me, wearing clothes that look.. weird as fuck. A yellow robe, with his chest halfway open, resting on just his shoulders. A yellow collar that went up to the back of his head. A yellow belt around his hip, with the symbol of Infinity branded on it. A single bright yellow underwear, worn on top of a skin tight off-white pant, as if he believes himself to be a yellow Superman. Two wristbands, and a headband, thankfully gold in colour and not yellow.
He was scowling at me, as I observed him, amused at his choice of clothing. But then, I see it, something that's just peeking out of his robe. A locket, made of an alloy of Orichalum and Gold, hung around his neck. And it was damn recognisable even if I haven't seen it.. ever.
The Eye of Agamotto. The Protective shell of the Time Infinity Stone.
Which means, this man was the Sorcerer Supreme, and I finally understand the meaning of his words.
Nodding, I say, "I think if I didn't actually belong here, you would have sought me out before this time, Sorcerer Supreme."
The man points his palm at me, and says, "You're an aberration, Wizard. You don't belong here."
For fuck's sake, does he not know any other words?
But then, I am forced to immediately apparate away from the place, when the man shoots a red coloured Mystic bolt at me. As I reappear a few dozen feet away from that point, I see the sand scorching red, already turning to glass.
I glare at the wielder of the Eye of Agamotto, and ask, "What kind of Sorcerer Supreme are you, to attack first without asking any questions?"
Shouldn't he already know everything about me, thanks to that Eye around his neck? I've been here for 5 years already, he should have seen my entire bloody life play out during this time!
The man points his palm at me once again, and shoots another red bolt of Magic at me. A bit angry now, I create a portal to his back, in the way of the Mystic bolt. The angry red beam of Magic goes through the portal, and towards the Sorcerer's back. Unfortunately, a barrier forms around him, stopping his own Mystic bolt from harming him.
It is when I created the Portal that I felt it. My connection to the Universe was weakening, very slowly, but it was weakening. It didn't happen before, and I know I wasn't struck by any curse, or any spell. Which means, this man just passively weakens those Sorcerers that are around him.
He's having no effect on my Wizard side, just the Sorcerer side. My Magic is still mine, but he's just decreasing the amount of Magic I passively absorb from the Universe, until slowly, I won't be a Sorcerer any longer.
This man's danger level just went up by an entire scale. I need to escape, but I cannot guarantee that he won't follow me. He's the bloody Sorcerer Supreme, he has the Eye of Agamotto. And Sanctuary isn't that well protected yet, it's just well hidden.
If he wants to follow me there, then he will.
"You don't belong here, in this Time Period." The man repeats, seriously annoying me now. "Your death here will restore the Timeline to the proper path, and send you back to your own time without any memories of the past. So, stay still and allow me to cast my spell."
No, thank you.
As he raises his hand at me once more, I remove my Staff from the Nowhere, and slam it head first on the ground. A wave of Magic erupts out of the Staff, sending Sand flying everywhere, and causing a small tremor of earthquake.
The tremor distracts the Sorcerer from casting his spell, and some of the sand lands in his eyes. While he's distracted, I get to work.
Focusing my Magic, I pull at the sand, and cause it to rise into walls all around us. These four sand walls, which by themselves are a hundred meters long each, then get transfigured into stone, creating a Stone room around us within a single second.
I tap my Staff on the ground once again, and more and more Sand is pulled into the Wall, immediately getting transfigured into Stone, before the walls rise up, and keep rising. Within 3 seconds, there's a room with each wall being 100 meters long, and around half a kilometre tall, around us.
The man scowls at me once again, and points both his palms at me, sending a single brown Mystic bolt at me, once again without any invocation. I apparate away from the position, and appear on the wall, using my nails to stick into place.
The Mystic bolt stops right before the slam into the ground, and surprisingly, shifts its aim towards me. As they speed towards me once again, I apparate away, this time on the wall opposite to it. Once again, the mystic bolt stops before it can hit anything solid, and turns around to follow me.
"No matter where you go, how far, and in which dimension. The Spell will keep following you until you're hit." The man helpfully taunts, as he stares at me apparating away from one place to another.
I apparate from one wall to another, from ceiling to the ground, again and again, with the Mystic bolt always following after me, not hitting anything solid. It was still connected to the Sorcerer's hands, which means he was still providing the spell with his Magic.
Finally, I apparate on the ground, right in the centre of the room, and place my palm down on the stone floor. With barely a moment's notice, an invisible Rune carves itself on the ground, with not even me able to see it.
Once again, the Mystic bolt speeds towards me, and I stand tall. When the bolt is about to hit me, I replace my Staff with my two Swords, Galadmagol and Durmagol, and bring them in between myself and the Spell.
The force of the spell throws me off my feet, flying towards the wall, but thankfully, my highly Magical swords protect me from the effects of the spell, by absorbing the Magic behind it.
As my swords glow orange, heating up thanks to the Dark Magic they just absorbed, I look up at the frowning Sorcerer with a smirk on my face. But then, I suddenly throw the swords down, not able to hold them any longer thanks to the extreme heat.
I know now that no shield would have worked against that spell, it was worse than the Killing Curse in that manner. This long time of dodging and apparating had given me the opportunity to sense the Intent behind the spell.
Total molecular disintegration, even my Healing factor wouldn't have allowed me to survive being hit by this spell. Thankfully, Durmagol and Galadmagol had been Enchanted for just this reason, absorbing Offensive spells.
But, it seems my Metalworking needs some working on, the swords became too hot after absorbing this spell from an actual mortal, no matter that said mortal is the Sorcerer Supreme.
"Before you die here, I would know your name." I say, staring at the man with not even a shred of anger showing on my face.
I didn't bother anyone in the past, at least not on purpose. I didn't even try to change anything major! I just copied the knowledge from the Library of Alexandria, gave some books to the Nalanda University, and that's it.
The man smiles, amused, and asks, "You actually think you can kill me, Wizard?"
Smiling back, I simply pick my swords up with Telekinesis, pointing both of them towards the Sorcerer. With a twitch of my fingers, I banish both the swords towards him, still glowing hot red with the absorbed Curse.
The man raises his hand negligently, either to create a shield, or to stop the swords in their spot. Unfortunately for him, his Magic fails to work, and both the swords stab into his chest, one in his heart, and the other in the right side of his chest.
Eyes wide, the man looks at me with something akin to fear and shock. As his body begins glowing orange, thanks to the Spell absorbed within the swords now destroying him from the inside out, I point at the walls.
The man looks at each of the walls one by one, now down on his knees, and sees 6 blue Runes that glow with my own Magic. I'd carved 6 Runes on the 4 walls, the ceiling, as well as the ground, while I was apparating away from his Curse.
As realization strikes him, I say, "Only the Mage who cast the Runes can use his Magic, former Sorcerer Supreme.. whatever your name is. Goodbye."
And then, before he can do anything, he explodes into an orange dust.
I sigh, as the Sorcerer dies, as I feel my connection to the Universe returning to its previous state. The side effect of being an experienced Sorcerer, is that I know when something is going to work, and when it is not.
His initial shielding from his own spell told me that sneak attacks won't work, and neither will most Wizarding spells. His Mystic bolt told me that he's a lot stronger than me, so much so that I doubt that even with a thousand years of training I will be able to match him Magically.
Which is.. supposed to not be possible, but I did just say a few months ago that nothing is impossible when it comes to Magic. His Soul must have been changed fundamentally, to allow him to store and channel that much Magic.
But, I wonder why the Sorcerer Supreme even attacked me. Speaking of, where's the Time Stone, or even the Eye of Agamotto? It was supposed to have fallen here some.. where.
Fuck, it's not over yet.
Summoning my swords back towards me, I use them to carve a three feet wide circle around myself. And then, I take my Staff out of nowhere, and slam its butt into the ground, creating a barrier of Magic in a cylindrical shape around me.
I do it just in time, when everything around me explodes in a fiery explosion. Thankfully, my barrier protects me from the majority of the damage, while only a few rocks manage to sneak past, and hit my head.
As the dust cloud starts settling down, the stone room I had conjured now once more turned into Sand, I hear the same man's voice say, "You are an annoying pest, Wizard. Just accept your fate, and go back to your own Timeline!"
The voice came from everywhere, and nowhere, with no Direction for me to track. Looking around warily, I say, "Trust me buddy, I will leave for my own Time as soon as I'm ready. But it won't be by someone else's hands, it will happen when I decide it happens."
"Then you leave me no choice. Die!" The man yells, as he reappears in front of me, now in the form of a.. giant floating head? What the fuck?
But before he can attack me, something else happens. Two portals form on the ground, one to my right, and one to my left. The one to my right was orange in colour, while the one on my left was orange with a tint of.. green?
The person that walks through the orange portal is a woman that looks like she's in her fifties. She was dark skinned, with completely white hair, wearing a plain black robe, with a few gold trims here and there. The woman was beautiful, but in an ethereal sort of way.
Then, I notice something surprising around her neck. The Eye of Agamotto. Another Eye of Agamotto.
Hearing the sound of footsteps, I turn towards the orange-green portal, and see two people walk out, both of them really familiar, yet surprising to my sights. One of them was dark skinned, short dark hair, with a dark green Sorcerer's robe on him, although they looked different than what the two Eye of Agamotto wielders were wearing.
The second was fair skinned, with a goatee on his face. He wore blue Sorcerer robes, the same style as the dark skinned man, with a simple addition of a red cloak flying around behind him. He also had another surprising addition around his neck, in the form of a familiar locket. Another.. another Eye of Agamotto.
These two people, however, were really familiar to me, not to Mason Aves, no. But to my previous life.
The dark skinned man was Baron Karl Mordo, while the fair skinned man was Doctor Stephen Strange, both of them Sorcerers from the 21st Century.
What the fuck, then, were they doing in the 1st Century BC?
Well, if the extra pronounced scowl on the disembodied head of the evil Sorcerer Supreme is to be trusted, it's related to him.
Fucking Time Travel.
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A/N: Sorry for the fast pace, I'm catching up for the last few chapters, which were pretty slow. Expect a similar pace, with frequent short time skips in between for the next 10 or so chapters.
I'm hoping to finish the Past arc before Ch 80, while also setting up his lover.
So, wish me luck!
Thank you for your support! Tata!
