Seeing Wong's confusion, Strange explained, "Last night, the Sorcerer Supreme and I learned some knowledge about Time magic. The Sorcerer Supreme gave me a book, and after I finished the first page, it was almost midnight."
Wong was even more puzzled. "You could still sleep for another four or five hours then."
Strange added, explaining, "After reading the book, I was so energized I couldn't sleep."
"Alright, follow me."
Wong nodded and said no more, signaling Strange to follow.
The destination was very familiar to Strange: the dining hall.
Arriving at the dining hall, Wong walked to an opaque brown cabinet, took out a bottle of red wine from it, opened it, poured a glass, and handed it to Strange.
"If you can't sleep at night, you can have a glass. Red wine contains melatonin, and moderate consumption helps improve sleep."
Strange took it but didn't drink it immediately. He repeatedly examined the wine bottle in Wong's hand.
"Romanée-Kang?!"
Wong looked down and nodded. "Yes."
"This... this..." Strange stammered incoherently.
He had lived in Kamar-Taj for half a month and was quite familiar with the living conditions, including food and lodging.
Except for the Sorcerer Supreme, other sorcerers almost all had one room and one living room.
The residences were not simple, they had all sorts of furniture. But they weren't luxurious either, just ordinary and clean.
The food in the dining hall was the same. The taste was more delicious than an average restaurant, but still within a normal range.
In terms of living enjoyment alone, it was more than enough, though not top-tier.
But now...
"Wong, is this genuine? Or a fake?" Strange asked cautiously.
Romanée-Kang red wine is produced in the Burgundy region of France and is very expensive. At auctions, certain special vintages of Romanée-Kang can reach prices close to a million dollars.
Wong rolled his eyes. "Wouldn't you know if you took a sip?"
Strange said weakly, "But I haven't tried it before, so I can't tell."
Seeing this, Wong pointed to the ground. "Kamar-Taj, Guardian of the reality. Sorcerers do not advocate for indulgence, nor do they resist enjoyment."
"Strange, don't pay too much attention to its added value. Essentially, this is just an ordinary, rather tasty glass of red wine."
"Alright."
Strange smiled freely, realizing that he hadn't completely changed his mindset yet.
Stepping into the temple of magic, he was no longer Doctor Strange, but sorcerer Strange.
No, Dr. Strange still sounded better.
He might not become the strongest sorcerer, but he could become the sorcerer with the highest academic qualifications, or the Dr. with the deepest magic attainments.
With an attitude of judging the past, Strange drank three glasses during breakfast until Wong reminded him, and he reluctantly left.
Training ground.
"Dr. Strange."
"Hello."
"Dr. Strange."
"Hello."
When Strange arrived, the sorcerer apprentices and sorcerers all greeted him proactively, which made Strange flattered, and he responded repeatedly.
Over the past half-month, Strange had vaguely noticed that the Kamar-Taj sorcerers all seemed to know him and treated him with great respect.
However, he had been living in seclusion during this time, spending most of his time cooped up in his residence reading, and had not interacted much with others, so he hadn't thought much of it.
But at this moment, he couldn't help but think more about it.
"Wong, are they so fond of me because I am the Sorcerer Supreme's disciple?"
Wong flatly denied, a half-smile on his face. "Of course not. Which sorcerer in Kamar-Taj isn't Sorcerer Supreme's disciple? They respect you for another reason. You will know it later."
Strange frowned.
He could sense that Wong probably knew the reason but was deliberately not telling him.
Sighing helplessly, Strange stopped thinking about it.
Riddle people were annoying, but what could he do? He couldn't beat them.
A moment later, Mordo walked in. He looked at Strange with surprise, then extended his hand, offering a two-fingered ring.
"This is a Sling Ring. Proficient use of the Sling Ring allows you to open a portal and reach any place you wish to go."
As he spoke, Mordo extended his palm, demonstrating how Strange should wear the Sling Ring.
Seeing Strange put on the Sling Ring with trembling hands, Mordo began to demonstrate himself.
"Concentrate, and visualize the place you want to go."
Mordo brought his two fingers together and drew a circle in the air. Golden-yellow flames appeared where his fingertips passed, then quickly spread, forming a portal.
Strange's pupils constricted. "Is this the magic Wong and teacher used before? But it seemed like they didn't need this ring."
Mordo nodded. "As long as your mental power and mastery of space magic reach their level, you can open a portal without the aid of a Sling Ring. But most sorcerers have limited abilities and need the Sling Ring to cast magic."
Pausing, Mordo's expression was a bit strange as he said, "Strange, a piece of advice. You can learn from Sorcerer Lucas, but don't compare yourself to him."
Strange raised an eyebrow. "I understand."
As if he hadn't heard the defiance in Strange's tone, Mordo just smiled.
Afterward, he carefully informed Strange of the key points and difficulties of the portal magic and helped correct several errors in his movements and expressions.
Pride, almost arrogance, is one of Strange's core personality traits.
Before stepping into the halls of magic, Strange had already achieved success in another field. He was a renowned and exceptionally capable neurosurgeon across the U.S., a legendary figure in the hospital and even the entire medical community.
And after entering the world of magic, he never experienced the slightest setback in learning magic.
Theoretical knowledge was understood at a glance, runic languages were mastered with a single study, and no matter how abstruse or difficult a spellbook was, he could comprehend and memorize it at an incredibly fast pace.
Strange, full of confidence, mimicked Mordo's earlier movements, waving his fingertips through the air while visualizing his residence in his mind.
The image of Strange's residence in his mind became increasingly clear, not a single detail was missed.
Not one or two circles, nor three or four circles, but seven or eight circles.
Still, not a single spark appeared before Strange.
He couldn't help but look around, noticing that the several other apprentices learning with him all had some sparks flickering before them.
Tap... Tap...
A barely perceptible sound of footsteps faintly drifted over.
Mordo's ears twitched, and he looked towards the entrance of the training ground, calling a halt to Strange and the others.
Tap... Tap...
The footsteps grew closer, and soon after, a figure in a plain robe appeared, accompanied by a voice.
"Perhaps you can continue, that way it will be easier for me to guide you."
"Yes, Sorcerer Supreme."
The apprentices responded, resuming their practice of the Portal spell, and sparks once again flickered within the training ground.
However, despite the flickering sparks, not a single Portal formed.
"Lucas, you…"
Mordo hesitated.
Though much time had passed, he still remembered Lucas's teaching ability.
Lucas, however, smiled confidently. "Mordo, one should look at a scholar with new eyes after three days."
If Lucas had to teach someone completely new to magic from scratch, he was not as good as Mordo. But if it was to teach an apprentice who had already started and mastered basic magic theory, Mordo was not as good as him.
Lucas had crammed a lot of magic knowledge in recent years, but he still knew nothing about the key points and difficulties to pay attention to in conventional spellcasting.
This meant that if he were to teach a pure novice, he would likely encounter many avoidable difficulties.
Pacing among the apprentices, Lucas offered guidance, "The Portal spell uses the Sling Ring to borrow the power of the Vishanti, connecting two points across the Multiverse to open a teleportation channel."
"This can be roughly divided into two steps: finding and connecting."
"The first step is finding. As the name suggests, it is to locate that point. The clearer the image in your mind, the easier it will be to find. Controlling one's own thoughts is not an easy task, but for a Sorcerer, it is a required course."
"The second step is connecting."
Lucas stopped, standing in front of and to the right of Strange.
"This requires using mental power to activate the Sling Ring. Although the conditions for casting the Portal spell have already been set up by the Vishanti, the 'travel fee' still needs to be paid by the sorcerer, and this 'travel fee' is the sorcerer's mental power."
"The movements taught by Mordo are a method of concentrating mental power onto the Sling Ring at the fingertips through body language. Paired with this set of movements, it is easier to invoke mental power."