Bolts of Balthakk

Liam walked back to his room, feeling strange.' I never imagined something like that could happen—or that these consequences would come from having Incursio.'

He wandered through the corridors, lost in thought. When he finally reached his room, he locked the door behind him and threw himself onto the bed. Lying on his back, he stared at the ceiling, his mind was filled with questions. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out the crystal ball, holding it above him as he tossed it in the air, spinning it with his wrist.

"Billions of people, huh…" Liam thought, having mixed feelings. He caught the crystal ball and stopped its spinning, his eyes catching his reflection. 'The future is so unpredictable now.'

As he tossed the ball again, his thoughts deepened. 'I don't want to be the cause of billions of deaths,' he thought. 'It feels surreal, being told that billions of lives can die because of your existence.'

His brow furrowed. 'Why didn't she tell me earlier? Could she be lying again?' He shook his head. 'No, that's just wishful thinking.'

'There are so many questions, but no answers. So many strange events. They all feel connected somehow, but I'm missing the centerpiece of information.' He sighed, catching the crystal once more and tossing it again. 'So…what now?'

At his current rate of growth, Liam knew he was far from matching the Ancient One's level of mastery. 'I have some ideas about the energy in the barrier, but I can't do anything with these ideas. Not when I can't even control the energy inside my own body.'

His resolve hardened. 'I need to grow stronger. I need to let Incursio adapt to as many things as possible—to make it immune to anything people use against me.' Liam's thoughts shifted. 'And I need to learn more advanced spells. Right now, I have a large weakness against enemies in the air, and then there's spells like the Mirror Dimension which are necessary for future battles. 

He sat up, setting the crystal ball beside him. 'Future battles will likely be on an immense scale, if I can't use the Mirror Dimension then, the aftermath will be countless wiped out cities.'

Liam's thoughts went to the infinity stones. 'The attraction I felt to the Time Stone—it felt similar to the attraction I've sensed coming from dimensional tears. Could they also cause Incursio to evolve? And can Incursio adapt to the power of the infinity stones? If it can, then it will change my strength completely.'

His gaze returned to the crystal ball. 'As for this… The Ancient One might have lied about not knowing what it is. She claimed it was just something the drake collected, but that doesn't add up. It was the only thing in the nest, and it was in Antarctica. No one would bring something this rare there, especially to a place where no human would go. If she genuinely doesn't know what it is, I'll figure it out myself.'

Pushing aside his thoughts about infinity stones, he stood. 'Enough about that for now. I need to focus on the upcoming meeting with S.H.I.E.L.D. that I have in a few days. 'Liam frowned, thinking about S.H.I.E.L.D. 'A few months after that, there's the Stark Expo and the Whiplash incident. The talk with S.H.I.E.L.D. is important—not just for me, but for my grandfather's safety. And a good relationship with the Avengers is something nice to have.

'Still,' Liam thought. 'Maybe I made the wrong call letting Fury take charge of my grandfather's safety. I should've just given him a culture shock and brought him to the Sanctum instead of trusting spies.' He rubbed his temples. 'But… he wouldn't have been able to live a normal life here.'

Scratching his head, Liam groaned. 'I'm going crazy. There are too many complex decisions, and there's never one perfect answer.' He sighed heavily. 'I need sleep. Tomorrow, I'll wake up early and start training again. The last fight drained me too much. Training now would lead to accidents, not progress.'

With that thought, Liam brushed his teeth and went to bed.

The next morning, Liam woke earlier than usual. Summoning Incursio, he teleported to his favorite training spot: the volcano.

He picked up his spellbook on the Bolts of Balthakk. 'I should have sufficient mastery over a basic spell like Eldritch Constraints to start learning this.'

The book outlined three requirements: mastery of Sanskrit, basic spell control, and strong visualization through meditation. 'I can check off all three,' Liam thought.

He read the book carefully, following it step by step. 'The first step is to visualize the spell in its basic form—a single burst of energy.'

Liam focused, speaking the incantation as he channeled energy through his right hand. A glowing burst of orange energy shot forth, aimed at a nearby rock. But it flew past the rock, hitting the ground further away.

'Right… aiming was mentioned to be a downside of this spell,' Liam thought with a bitter smile.

The spell had gotten his interest because of its advantages over other spells he'd seen in the Marvel universe. 'Most spells require drawn circles or incantations, even after mastery. But this one… once you understand it, no incantation is necessary.'

He remembered the spell's description from the book. 'The Bolts of Balthakk concentrate energy directly into the hands. With enough mastery, the bursts can become chain attacks—bouncing from one target to another. And the strength is decided by how much energy you put in.' He remembered when Doctor Strange used it against Thanos in Infinity War.

In the movie, the spell bounced from rock to rock after each impact. Each rock was destroyed on impact.

Satisfied with his progress, Liam decided to optimize his training schedule. 'I'll dive into the lava now, then return to this spell while Incursio is on cooldown.' Summoning the armor, he sprinted to the lava and leaped in.

Swimming down to the same point as before, Liam activated Eldritch Sight, training his dectection ability while also improving Incursio. 'The energy I felt last time is still here, it's very faint but it isn't an energy I'm familiar with.The energy trail starts about 50 meters below me, the actual tear will be further down.'

Liam continued analyzing. 'It's likely not a high or medium-level tear. I've been using dimensional energy, and nothing's responded or tried to attack me.' He frowned. 'Still, to reach it, I'd need resistance to temperatures between 1,500 and 2,000 degrees Celsius. It will take a while to reach that level of resistance.'

'Maybe by then, the Ancient One will step in herself.' Liam smirked. 'She probably left this because no young mage could go this far down—and because there's no actual threat that has come out.'

He made a mental note. 'If she doesn't intervene by the time my heat resistance improves, I'll explore further. I'll absorb the energy and see if Incursio or Neontote can evolve again.'

After a few more minutes, Liam swam back to the surface, climbed out, and sat by his belongings. Focusing inward, he studied the white energy running through his armor.

'Controlling this will be one of my first goals.' He watched the energy spread across the armor. 'I didn't actually think about this. Since the lava damages Incursio, does it rebuild itself with stronger materials—or just more heat-resistant ones?'

Picking up one of the notebooks he had taken with him, Liam began writing down his current questions about Incursio. 'I need to properly research this. Relying on memory alone isn't enough for a proper research.'

As he wrote, a thought struck him. 'This can't fall into enemy hands.' He tapped his pen against the notebook. 'How do I keep this safe without risking myself? Anything related to electronic devices is out of the question… a book is the best option. But how do I hide it?'

He remembered Doctor Strange's spell to make the the Time Stone disappear during the fight with Thanos on his homeplanet. 'I have no clue what the actual spell is, but if I could use that spell to conceal the research book, there'd be no problem.'