Lucas's voice interrupted Strange's reverie, "But before you learn magic, there's one more thing you need to do."
"What is it?"
"Open your eyes and see the world."
Lucas reached out and pointed a finger at Strange's forehead.
Strange was enveloped in a glowing white energy, and before he could react, his body shot upwards at extreme speed, breaking out of Earth and entering space.
Just as Strange stabilized himself and was about to examine the planet beneath his feet, another pulling force came, drawing him higher.
Strange felt himself falling at extreme speed, the sensation of weightlessness making him gasp, yet it also felt as if he were ascending.
The blue Earth gradually shrank, then the Earth-Moon system, the Solar System, the Milky Way Galaxy, star clusters, superclusters, filamentary structures composed of countless galaxies, and vast empty voids.
"This is our Universe, reality. And beyond reality, there are countless other dimensional spaces and parallel Universes."
Without warning, a spatial rift appeared with a tearing sound, sucking Strange into it and transporting him to a dazzling world of bizarre sights.
In this world, countless colossal, star-like, colorful bubbles floated, and Strange, under the influence of a pulling force, passed through each of these bubbles.
Some were pitch black and silent like death, some were vibrant and full of life like reality, and some were covered in tentacles, making them unbearable to look at.
And during this process, Strange's body also continuously changed.
Upon entering the Shadow world, his body lost its color accordingly.
Upon entering the tentacle world, his fingers constantly differentiated, growing into numerous palms, and the fingers on those palms differentiated again, ultimately countless palms covered his face, yet also formed a larger face.
This was a journey that subverted Strange's understanding.
And at the end of this journey, Strange saw ferocious hellhounds like those in myths, a purple figure wreathed in fire, and pale-skinned demons with wings on their backs.
Without exception, these creatures were all incredibly massive, like stars. They exuded a terrifying aura, like natural predators of life.
In front of these creatures, Strange felt incredibly small, his life like a flickering candle in the wind, teetering on the brink.
But very quickly, he noticed something was wrong.
These creatures... they all seemed to be dead?
"Outside reality, countless extra-dimensional creatures surround it. And a sorcerer's duty is to resist these creatures and protect reality."
"The world of ordinary people has never known peace, and the extraordinary world is no different. It's just that some people are bearing the burden and moving forward."
"Strange, are you afraid?"
Strange noticed the voice descending from above. He stiffly looked up, meeting a pair of pitch-black eyes.
In the pitch-black eyes, past scenes rewound, showing the owner of the eyes battling these terrifying creatures.
To Strange's surprise, the battle was not brutal at all. In fact, it could be described as a one-sided crushing.
Those creatures, those Dimensional Lords that were incredibly terrifying in his eyes, couldn't even make the owner of the eyes shed a single drop of blood.
Is this sorcerer Lucas, is this the Sorcerer Supreme?
In a daze, Strange returned to the tea room. He didn't answer Lucas's question but instead asked, "Who are they?"
"Beast, the Lord of the Dark Dimension - Dormammu, the Incarnation of the Abyss - Knull, the God of Symbiotes, and some nameless small fry whose names I can no longer recall."
After hearing Lucas's reply, Strange took a few deep breaths and then said, "I'm not afraid now."
Nonsense, the most powerful boss was right beside him, what did he have to be afraid of?
If the sky fell, the tallest ones would bear the brunt first.
Lucas said earnestly, "Not being afraid is naturally best, but it's also okay to be afraid. We Kamar-Taj are an organized and disciplined group of sorcerers, and we never advocate for lone combat or individual heroism nor do we advocate for sorcerers to challenge their limits or bear responsibilities they cannot handle."
"You must believe that the tasks the organization assigns you will always be tasks you can complete with effort to spare."
Strange nodded repeatedly, almost adding, "Exactly."
Seeing this, Lucas nodded in satisfaction and picked up his teacup to moisten his throat. This disciple was teachable and would surely grow into a good tool in the future.
"Sorcerer Lucas, may I become your disciple?" Strange asked.
He had just noticed a detail: the bald former Sorcerer Supreme had said that most of the current sorcerers at Kamar-Taj were her disciples.
Did that mean that most Kamar-Taj sorcerers became disciples of the Sorcerer Supreme?
"Strange, are you sure?"
Lucas's eyes lit up, and then his expression became even more serious. "Becoming a disciple to learn magic is not like school."
"I'm sure." Strange said through gritted teeth.
If he was going to find a teacher, he would find the most powerful one. Besides, although Lucas seemed younger than him, who knew how old he truly was?
Such a formidable person, who killed Dimension Lords more easily than slaughtering chickens, couldn't possibly be truly in his early twenties.
"But since we are modern people after all, 'a teacher for a day is a father for life' is unnecessary. You only need to remember to respect your teacher and the path."
It was Strange's first time becoming a disciple, and it was also Lucas's first time taking a disciple.
He was wondering at this moment if he should prepare a gift for this first disciple.
A moment later, Lucas seemed to remember something.
He pointed his fingers through the void, opening a portal to the courtyard on the seventh floor of the bookstore. Reaching through the portal, Lucas plucked a green stone from a cobblestone path.
Ancient One, who had been observing Lucas and Strange, had her eyes twitch.
She had no objection to Lucas taking Strange as a disciple, as she and Strange in this Universe were not master and disciple. Besides, the relationship between a grand-master and a grand-disciple wasn't that different.
It's just...
Look, what did she see? A cobblestone path paved with Infinity Stones?
And using a genuine Infinity Stone as a gift for accepting a disciple?
Under Ancient One's curious gaze, Lucas washed the plucked green stone with tea water and then pressed it firmly onto Strange's forehead.
Accompanying the flow of glowing white light, this green stone quickly embedded itself into Strange's forehead and vanished, leaving only a faint, indistinct pattern.
"Alright, get up."
"Teacher, what is on my forehead?" Strange asked.
He had been looking down earlier and wasn't clear about what Lucas had done, only feeling that something seemed to have embedded itself in his brow. It felt itchy, like his brain was growing.
"Hmm... Lucas's eye?" Lucas thought for a moment, then rejected the name, "Let's just call it the Rye of Agamotto."
After a moment of thought, Lucas decided to stop thinking.
"The Eye of Agamotto? An eye that controls the power of time?" Strange asked.
Seeing Lucas nod, Strange's face lit up with excitement, and he repeatedly expressed his gratitude.
Indeed, when finding a teacher, one must find the most powerful one. An eye that controls the power of time, it sounded like an extraordinary magical artifact.
After receiving the Eye of Agamotto, Strange studied it for a long time but gained nothing. He couldn't help but cast a questioning gaze at Lucas.
"Teacher, how should I use this Rye of Agamotto?"
"Your mental power is too weak right now, you can't use it." Lucas shook his head.
"Different magic tools have different ways of use, and the difficulty of using them also varies. You can check the library for more information later."
"What I can tell you is that the Rye of Agamotto is one of the top-tier magic tools in the Universe. Similarly, its usage conditions are extremely strict."
"First, you must become a true sorcerer, perceiving and freely controlling your own mental power. Second, you also need an extremely vast amount of knowledge."
"Time magic is one of the most mysterious and powerful magic in the Universe. To truly master Time magic, talent and effort are both indispensable."
Strange nodded repeatedly, taking notes. He had no doubts about what Lucas said, but he was also extremely confident.
As a top student with a Ph. D, and one of Medicine no less, Strange was least afraid of studying.
Seeing Strange listen attentively, Lucas nodded with satisfaction.
"Strange, your talent is good, but mastering Time magic is not something that can be achieved overnight."
"How about this? To give you a proper understanding of Time magic, I'll give you a demonstration first."
Upon hearing this, Strange was eager to try. Having witnessed the splendor of the magic world beyond reality today, he was now incredibly curious about magic.
Crack... Crack...
With a barely perceptible sound of glass shattering, Strange felt a blur before his eyes, and he found himself in space once again.
However, unlike last time, he didn't feel weightless, and Lucas and Ancient One were also by his side.
(End of Chapter)
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