Noah stood up and followed Ancient One out of the ancient sanctuary.
Stepping out of the main gate, what greeted their eyes was the snow-capped mountain in the distance. Kamar-Taj is a small village located in the Himalayas. Besides some Sorcerers from Kamar-Taj, the people living outside are normal humans. Is this what it means to be 'hidden in plain sight'?
"Ha! Ha!"
In the open space outside the Ancient One Sanctuary, many Kamar-Taj Sorcerers were training. Noah looked at their stance and felt that this was very Kamar-Taj; Sorcerers all practiced close-combat moves.
The Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj, as shown in the movies, typically use close-combat magic, utilizing magic to construct close-combat weapons, such as fans, shields, or whips, and then go hit people. So, Noah wasn't surprised that they were practicing physical combat now.
Ancient One sensed Noah's thoughts and immediately informed him of the reason for these Sorcerers' training. According to Ancient One, the Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj do not inherently possess magic within their bodies; they need to borrow power from other dimensions. As mentioned before, Kamar-Taj utilizes the power of Vishanti, the creator of White magic. The reason Kamar-Taj Sorcerers focus on physical training is to allow their bodies to withstand more magical power.
In the Himalayas region, the temperature drops sharply at night, but these Sorcerers were still training. Noah admired them greatly. The Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj seemed like ascetics to Noah, after all, the magic of Kamar-Taj not only requires talent but also perseverance and determination. Otherwise, you would never learn the magic of Kamar-Taj in your entire life, unless, of course, you are a cheat.
These Sorcerers who were training had various skin colors and came from all over the World to study at Kamar-Taj. Moreover, they all seemed to have some injuries or illnesses, and some were even disabled.
Many people who come to Kamar-Taj mostly come for treatment of injuries and illnesses. Those suffering from ailments that current medical technology cannot cure, after hearing that some people were cured of incurable diseases after coming to Kamar-Taj, all came to study, just like Doctor Strange in the movie. However, Doctor Strange has not had an accident yet and is still working as a genius Doctor in the hospital.
Leading this group of Sorcerers in training was a black Sorcerer. Ancient One introduced the name of this Sorcerer to Noah.
"This is Mordo."
Mordo, who was guiding the Sorcerers' training, saw Ancient One walking over with an unfamiliar person. Mordo temporarily stopped his guidance and turned to bow to Ancient One.
"Sorcerer Ancient One."
At the same time, he also looked at Noah.
"This is…" Mordo inquired.
"Hello, Mordo, I am Noah. I came to Kamar-Taj today to visit Sorcerer Ancient One," Noah said proactively.
"Hello, Mr. Noah," Mordo greeted Noah after seeing that Ancient One did not object.
Mordo's role in Kamar-Taj was similar to Ancient One's head disciple. He had followed Ancient One to practice magic very early on and held Ancient One in high esteem, regarding Ancient One's words as truth. However, this also led to him turning evil later after learning the truth about Ancient One's immortality.
"I'm going to take Noah to the library now. Mordo, please continue with your work," Ancient One said to Mordo. Mordo cupped his hands and then returned to the open space, continuing to instruct the group of Sorcerers.
After passing through the training area, Noah followed behind Ancient One, traversing more than half of Kamar-Taj, and arrived at another building. Ancient One pushed the door open, and Noah followed closely behind.
Books, many books—this was the sight Noah saw after entering the door. The room was filled with bookshelves, and the bookshelves were crammed with densely packed books. This library could be considered one of the oldest libraries on Earth. It stored countless books, some recording magic, some recording various strange tales and secret histories, and also ancient collections recording forbidden and dangerous knowledge.
The librarian in the library, seeing that it was Ancient One who opened the door, stood up and bowed to Ancient One. This librarian was not Wong, but a curly-haired middle-aged man, the very librarian who was beheaded by Kaecilius at the beginning of the Doctor Strange movie.
'So Kaecilius hasn't betrayed yet?' Noah thought to himself when he saw the librarian.
"Do you speak Sanskrit?" Ancient One asked.
"Huh?" Noah was puzzled, but then he understood why Ancient One asked that.
Ancient One waved a hand, and several bookshelves in the distance trembled slightly. Then, a few books floated from the bookshelves into Ancient One's hand. Each book was about three to four centimeters thick, a thickness that made Noah raise an eyebrow.
"Take these books back and read them first. These are the basic knowledge of Kamar-Taj's magic lineage. To learn magic well, you must first master this knowledge." Ancient One placed the thick books in front of Noah.
"Uh, alright then." After taking the books, Noah looked at the topmost one. The cover had a bunch of characters Noah couldn't understand. He felt they were hieroglyphs, which should be the Sanskrit Ancient One mentioned. However, it didn't matter if Noah couldn't understand them; he could just ask Lissandra to translate them when he got home.
After a quick glance, Noah directly put the books into his backpack. This scene made the librarian pause for a moment; he had just thought Noah didn't know magic and was a newcomer who had just joined Kamar-Taj.
After getting the books, Noah and Ancient One returned to the sanctuary to discuss the Eternal matters, and then Noah returned home, as there was nothing else to do there. As for the Suspension Ring, which is essential for Kamar-Taj Sorcerers, Ancient One said she would give it to him after he finished reading those things.
A blue light pillar descended into Noah's manor. It was still daytime in New York. The time Noah spent going and coming back was less than an hour, but this was normal. Noah didn't do anything major after arriving at Kamar-Taj; he just chatted with Ancient One for a while, then toured Kamar-Taj, and brought back a few magic books.
Noah rushed to the laboratory without stopping, then took out the thick books from his backpack. If it were in the past, he wouldn't even want to look at such thick books, let alone read them. But after gaining the Big Head talent, reading was no longer a problem for him; in fact, he quite enjoyed it. Since acquiring the Big Head talent, he had read many books and absorbed a vast amount of knowledge.
"Let me see what these books are, Lissandra, could you please help me translate these books?"
Arranging the books on the table in front of him, Noah asked Lissandra to translate all of them for him. These books were written in ancient script, which Noah couldn't understand.
"No problem, Noah."
A blue light scanned the books on the table, and then a holographic projection appeared in front of Noah. Lissandra completed the translation work in a few seconds, which was highly efficient.
"Lissandra, you can also remember these things. You can learn Kamar-Taj's magic then. Oh, and teach Gwen when you have time," Noah said. Anyway, Ancient One didn't forbid him from showing these books to others, so he might as well let the two girls around him learn as well. However, Noah felt Gwen might not be able to focus on them.
"I will, Noah." Lissandra was best at teaching Gwen, so it seemed Gwen's good days were coming to an end.
"Okay, now let's see what these things are." Noah didn't flip through the physical books but reached out and clicked on the projection in front of him. The holographic projection was identical to the books below, but the text inside was translated.
"'Book of Vishanti', 'Cosmic Compendium', 'Key of Solomon', 'Supreme Codex', 'Kabbalah Tree of Life'—they all sound familiar." Noah realized that the first few seemed to be books Doctor Strange had read during his studies. Could this be a required course for new students at Kamar-Taj?
"Let's begin, I love to learn." With the Big Head talent, photographic memory was already a basic operation. Noah began his reading journey.