The position of Sorcerer Supreme—it was time for a new successor.
Ancient One had high hopes for Stephen Strange. Now that Ebony Maw had been eliminated by Hela, and with the Emperor's group present, Thanos would never be able to take the Time Stone from her or from Stephen.
In a calm and gentle tone, Ancient One said,
"Strange, it's time for you to find a safer place to practice your spells."
As she spoke, Stephen Strange noticed her hand subtly gesture to the left. The space in that direction seemed to shatter like a mirror, as though an invisible stone had been hurled into it—countless cracks split through the air!
Stephen frowned deeply. His understanding of the arcane had just been reshaped again, and his heart surged with a thirst for more extraordinary magic.
With a light movement of her fingers, Ancient One caused the fractured space to break apart into gleaming mirror-like shards.
Stephen watched as Ancient One slowly stepped into the broken mirror fragments, and he followed closely behind.
As he reached the shard's edge, he stopped and stretched out a hand to touch the mirror-like surface. This was a realm he had never encountered before.
Upon entering the fractured mirror dimension, a loud shattering sound like glass being smashed rang in his ears. Strange instinctively covered them.
He lifted his gaze and saw scenes reflected within the shards themselves.
With her hands still clasped behind her back, Ancient One observed Stephen stepping backward, constantly turning his head to take in his surroundings.
"Wha… what is this place?" Stephen Strange asked in amazement.
"The Mirror Dimension," she answered. "It exists, but is almost impossible to detect. Whatever happens here has no impact on the real world. This will be your training ground. It's completely safe."
Ancient One had taken into account that Stephen, still a beginner, might lose control of his magic and inadvertently harm others if he practiced outside.
"And one more thing—if you don't have a Sling Ring, you'll be trapped in here," she added, hands now in her pockets, strolling casually.
Still brimming with curiosity, Strange waved his hand in front of a servant who was cleaning nearby—only to realize she had no awareness of his presence at all.
"Wait… wait a second. Are you saying I'll be trapped here?"
And sure enough—Stephen had come without his Sling Ring…
Could this be Ancient One's way of punishing him for using the Sling Ring in the library to sneak out books?
"No," she replied. "I just wanted to teach you about the Mirror Dimension. There are many things you still don't understand."
Ancient One spoke unhurriedly. As she reached the center, she moved her hands again, and the tiled floor began to flip and rotate. Stephen lost his balance, his body swaying.
A deafening noise erupted from above. Looking up, Strange stood in stunned silence as the ceiling stretched and expanded impossibly before his eyes.
"If I gave you too much information at once, I feared you'd be scared away. Strange, this is why I wanted you to start with the 'boring rules,'" Ancient One said frankly.
Once you become a sorcerer, the dangers you face will be a hundred, a thousand times greater than those you faced as a doctor.
But one thing remains unchanged—your responsibility to protect life.
After hearing those words, Stephen fell silent. There was still so much he didn't understand.
"Relax," Ancient One said. "Soon, Master Mordo will teach you close-combat techniques."