Just then, the copper bell Parker kept in his arms rang. Li Kang had finished downloading the data and was asking Parker if the situation outside was safe.
"Damn it!" Parker shook his hand, temporarily putting the wound out of his mind. "Three rings for trouble, one ring for no trouble." He muttered as he shook the bell once.
"Boom!" A portal opened beside Parker, and Li Kang stepped out, flaunting the USB drive in his hand.
"Mission accomplished. We can't stay here long, let's go." Li Kang patted Parker's shoulder and walked towards the elevator.
"Okay… okay." Parker glanced worriedly at the wound on his hand and followed Li Kang out.
After leaving the Osborn building, Li Kang bought two sandwiches from a street food cart and handed one to Parker.
"So you really are a magician! Oh my god, I never thought I'd actually meet a real magician. Can you teach me magic? Is casting spells really cool?" Parker ate his sandwich but still chattered on endlessly.
While Parker spoke excitedly, his complexion grew worse and worse, and cold beads of sweat constantly seeped from his forehead.
Li Kang didn't take it to heart, thinking Parker was reacting this way because he was frightened. He sneered inwardly, realizing that the future Spider-Man was such a coward.
"Firstly, you have no magical talent whatsoever. Your study of magic is destined to make you nothing more than a mediocre fortune teller. Secondly, your mindset is wrong. Casting magic is a very serious matter. Don't think that casting spells is just wiggling your fingers a few times and chanting two incantations, and this reality will bend to your will. The cost of magic is unimaginably high. Attacking someone with magic is no different in essence from punching them," Li Kang said very seriously.
"But there's still a difference, isn't there?" Parker asked, still not giving up.
"Of course. Compared to a fist, magic has a greater recoil. Even if you punch someone, without special training, a weakling like you would break your bones after two punches if you attacked with full force. The biggest difference between magic and fists or technology is that you don't know when to stop. By the time you realize you've crossed the line, it's too late, understand?"
Li Kang sighed. If he didn't make things clear today, he was truly afraid Parker would try to research magic himself. That would be like a baby playing with a grenade, not only harming himself but also endangering those around him.
Magic is no child's play; every time magic is used, a corresponding price must be paid. During World War II, the famous Magical Prince Monarch would personally drown one of his pet rabbits after each spell he cast to combat the Nazis.
Each spell also has its own cost. For example, using the Crimson Bands means the user must endure the raging fury from the Crimson Cosmos. The endless rage from that outer universe can easily cause the user to go berserk, leading to terrifying consequences. Using a Nightmare spell, on the other hand, is like lighting a torch in the Dream Forest, and the Nightmare Lord could come knocking at any time.
Some spells directly cause physical harm to the caster. Atlantis' dark magic can make the user's eyes bleed incessantly... So, while magicians are powerful, they are also fragile.
Fortunately, Li Kang came from Earth Prime and possessed primeval attributes, so the cost of his spells was far less than that of ordinary people. However, the price still had to be paid; it was just that his capacity for endurance was greater than the average person, and the price he paid was relatively minor. This was already much luckier than most mages.
"So magic is that terrifying, it seems science is better… Ouch!" Parker cried out in pain as the wound on his hand accidentally brushed against the sandwich wrapper, making him shake his hand repeatedly.
"What happened to your hand?" Li Kang asked, puzzled.
"I was bitten by a spider, and it was a very strange spider. I think I might be poisoned," Parker said worriedly.
'Being bitten is right, you're about to become Spider-Man!' Li Kang thought to himself.
"I'm really impressed that you got hurt just by keeping watch. It's nothing, you look fine. Maybe those spiders have an aphrodisiac effect, and you've actually benefited from this misfortune," Li Kang patted Parker's shoulder, offering a perfunctory comfort.
"Really? You're not lying to me, are you?" Parker's spirits lifted.
"Don't worry, I'm an old traditional Chinese medicine doctor, understand? It's a mysterious wisdom from the East. Trust me, the 'qi' in your body is very strong. Just go home and get some sleep. When you wake up, you'll be full of life. If I'm wrong, feel free to come find me." Li Kang smiled, but what he was thinking was, 'If I'm wrong, you won't have a chance to find me anyway.'
Parker's face was sallow, cold sweat streamed down his cheeks, soaking even his hair. His condition was worsening.
"I feel so sick, Mr. Li Kang, am I really okay?" Just as Parker's spirits lifted a little, a wave of intense cold spread through his body, making him shiver involuntarily.
Li Kang flashed a charming, rabbit-like smile and whispered, "Trust me, after tonight, you'll feel better than you ever have before. You'll be a new person, just don't get too excited then. How about this, I'll leave you an address. If you really encounter anything strange, just come find me."
Taking out a notepad, Li Kang wrote down his address and phone number. After a moment of hesitation, he pulled out fifty dollars from his pocket and placed it in Parker's hand. "Anyway, thanks to you, I was able to complete the mission so smoothly. Take this money."
"Mr. Li Kang, I can't take this money," Parker quickly declined.
"Hey, brother! I'm telling you to take it, so just obediently put it away. You've earned it." Li Kang stuffed the money into Parker's pocket. "Don't worry, this money won't bite. I'm a private detective from Hell's Kitchen, known as the Hell Detective. Remember, if you have trouble, just come find me. I'll give you a discount."
"Hell's Kitchen? You live in that godforsaken place? I really hope I never have to come find you in my life," Parker grumbled weakly.
Li Kang chuckled. Parker's condition was now worsening. He saw Parker onto a bus, advising him to go home and get some good rest.
He then walked into a dark alley, where he selected nine bricks on a brick wall and tapped them in the order of the Nine Realms from Norse mythology. Then, with a single step, the next second he had arrived at the most famous gathering place for magicians in New York City, and also an important intelligence hub: the No-Door Bar.
"Heaviness, mix me something special. I desperately need a hot one today," Li Kang said to the bartender, simultaneously scanning the customers in the room with his peripheral vision.
Sitting in the corner was a Haitian man, his face painted with a skull pattern made of bone ash – that was the damned Doctor Voodoo. This old man was truly powerful and had always been at odds with Li Kang. Actually, it wasn't really his fault. Back then, Li Kang, Doctor Voodoo, and a few other sorcerers teamed up to search for treasure in a Mayan temple deep in the Amazon jungle.
Deep within the booby-trapped Mayan temple, the group found a shiny, eye-blinding Sacred Serpent Totem. It was a powerful magical amulet. Everyone present tried to grab it, but Li Kang was just a bit faster than the others. As a result, Doctor Voodoo blamed only him. That score made Li Kang truly feel good for a while, and he still savors the memory.
This truly wasn't Li Kang's fault; Doctor Voodoo was just a sore loser, too petty.
Next to Doctor Voodoo sat an Native American, a Shaman. That was both his profession and his name. There were rumors that he could communicate with the spirits of all worlds and even know the past and future. Anyway, the last time they gambled with dice, he didn't show any signs of knowing the future. Li Kang didn't even cast a spell on the dice; he merely poured a little mercury into them and nearly won the Shaman's underwear.
At the same table with these two was a newcomer Li Kang had never seen before—a red-haired beauty in her twenties, with an angelic face, a perfect figure, especially her thick red hair, and those enigmatic beautiful eyes, like a lyrical poem, breathtakingly gorgeous.
"Wow, Heaviness, I haven't been here in a while, and your taste has improved significantly. Who is that incredibly beautiful lady over there? You absolutely must introduce me." Li Kang placed a banknote on the bar.
Heaviness, to be precise, was hard to call a person, because in a magical accident, his entire body disappeared, leaving only his head living in a sealed magic jar. However, Heaviness's power was undeniable, not to mention that Heaviness also had the Magical Prince Monarch backing him.
"There are quite a few ladies here, who exactly are you asking about?" Heaviness was right; there were indeed many hot and dangerous ladies in the No-Door Bar.
"It's the redhead over there, the one at the table with Doctor Voodoo and the Shaman. I've never seen anyone so beautiful." Li Kang handed over another bill as a tip. Everyone was an old hand; they all understood this kind of gesture.
"That's the Scarlet Witch, the embodiment of Chaos Magic. She is indeed beautiful, but also absolutely dangerous. She's with Hydra. If I were you, I'd stay far away from her. If she unleashes her true talent, a single thought from her could erase you from existence," Heaviness said with a warning tone.
"Chaos Magic? And Hydra? Is that for real? She seems perfectly sane, not like a lunatic," Li Kang said, skeptical.
The price for mastering Chaos Magic is immense, and that is mental stability. From ancient times until now, there has only been one woman who mastered Chaos Magic: Morgana from the era of King Arthur. As King Arthur's sister, Morgana not only tempted King Arthur into corruption but also seduced Merlin's apprentice, leading to Merlin's betrayal and his inability to save King Arthur.
But Morgana also paid a price. After her son, Mordred, died with King Arthur, Morgana's mind completely collapsed. Unable to endure the pain brought by Chaos Magic, she erased herself.
"I only said she's the embodiment of Chaos Magic, not that she's merged with it. That would require a terrifying catalyst to tear her soul apart. I hope no one in this world is foolish enough to provoke her. Li Kang, do you still want to get to know her? I can arrange it," Heaviness said, not without a hint of teasing. Every magician knows that it's better to dabble in dark magic than to get involved with Chaos Magic.
"Hahahaha…" Li Kang let out two dry laughs. He didn't know why, but he had a premonition that the trouble of the Scarlet Witch would eventually find him. However, for now, he had a more immediate problem to solve.