Karl remained silent for a moment.
From the Ancient One's words, he could already tell that she had found someone to succeed her.
Just like in the original timeline.
Stephen Strange.
At this moment, however, Stephen Strange was still a world-class neurosurgeon and had not yet experienced the car accident that would destroy his hands.
According to the timeline Karl remembered, when Bruce Banner and Tony Stark traveled back in time during the Time Heist, they arrived during the battle between the Avengers and the Chitauri army.
When Banner asked the Ancient One where Stephen Strange was, she calmly replied that he was still performing surgery in an operating room a few blocks away.
Which meant—
Strange's car accident would occur not long after the Battle of New York.
Karl sighed slightly.
"Is there any way to deal with the Celestial embryo?"
"Or are we supposed to simply watch Earth be destroyed?"
No matter what happened, Earth was still the place where he lived.
If the planet itself was destroyed, then everything he had built would disappear with it.
The Ancient One calmly poured more tea.
"Yes."
"There is a way."
"But not now."
She looked at Karl quietly.
"In the future timeline I once observed, the Celestial embryo was dealt with."
"But after your arrival… the future became unclear."
She paused slightly.
"I can no longer see what happens."
Then she said something unexpected.
"That means the responsibility now lies with you."
Karl fell into deep thought.
His arrival had changed too many events.
The future the Ancient One once observed had already diverged.
After a moment, the Ancient One suddenly spoke again.
"Would you like to learn magic?"
Karl looked up.
The Ancient One continued calmly.
"You are capable of drawing energy directly from the dimension connected to your power."
"You do not need to borrow power from external dimensional entities like the mages of Kamar-Taj."
In truth, Karl was indeed extremely compatible with magic.
However, the Ancient One knew he could never become the next Sorcerer Supreme.
Karl would not remain on Earth forever.
And Earth already possessed several individuals with extraordinary magical potential.
For example:
Wanda Maximoff, wielder of Chaos Magic.
And Jean Grey, host of the Phoenix Force.
Both possessed immense magical potential that did not rely on borrowed dimensional energy.
If their power was fully awakened, it would far surpass the traditional sorcery practiced by Kamar-Taj mages.
Karl slowly came back to his senses.
"Me?"
"Of course I want to learn."
He agreed immediately.
Even ignoring other spells, the portal spell alone was incredibly useful.
And the Mirror Dimension was something he had always wanted to learn.
The Ancient One took out a golden ring and handed it to him.
"This is called a Sling Ring."
"It helps focus the mind and connect with dimensional energy."
"Once a sorcerer reaches a high enough level, the Sling Ring becomes unnecessary."
Karl examined the ring.
It was exactly the same as the one from the movie he had seen in his previous life.
He put it on his finger.
The Ancient One began teaching.
"First, feel the energy around you."
"Magic is not created from nothing. It is drawn from the multiverse."
"Focus your mind. Connect with the energy of the dimension you belong to."
"Then release it through the Sling Ring."
She demonstrated a circular motion with her hand.
"This is the portal spell."
Then she explained the incantation and the technique behind shaping the magical energy.
Karl's mental strength was already extremely powerful.
He quickly understood the principles.
After several attempts, he successfully connected to the Shadow World through the power of the Shadow Mask.
The Shadow World functioned like a dark dimension filled with unique energy.
Normally, Kamar-Taj mages borrowed power from various dimensions.
Karl, however, could directly use the energy of the Shadow World.
Even his freezing power resonated with it.
Karl drew a circle in the air.
Black-blue magical sparks appeared.
Soon—
A circular portal formed.
On the other side was the snow-covered peak of the Himalayas.
Karl quickly closed the portal.
Even he had not expected to learn so quickly.
The Ancient One watched quietly.
Then she smiled faintly.
Seeing Karl master the portal spell so quickly, she began teaching him several additional spells.
Among them were:
Mirror Dimension
Rings of Raggadorr
Images of Ikonn
Crimson Bands of Cyttorak
And several other basic Kamar-Taj techniques.
"You may study the rest in the library," the Ancient One said as she stood up.
"But the books cannot leave Kamar-Taj."
After speaking, she disappeared quietly.
Karl stood up and bowed respectfully toward where she had been sitting.
Even though he was not formally her disciple, she had still taught him magic.
That made her half a teacher.
Afterward, Karl went to the Kamar-Taj library.
There he met the librarian.
Wong.
Wong simply told him the rules of the library and allowed him to read freely.
Karl didn't mind.
Karl had his own thoughts about why the Ancient One decided to teach him.
Perhaps she hoped he could help protect Kamar-Taj in the future.
Or even guide Stephen Strange when the time came.
After all, in the original timeline, even during the final battle against Thanos, Strange's strength had not yet reached cosmic levels.
In theory, if Strange had possessed both the Time Stone and the Ancient One's full mastery of magic, he could have fought Thanos much more directly.
But instead, he handed the Time Stone to Thanos in exchange for Tony Stark's life.
There was another reason as well.
Thanos never personally came to Earth while Odin and the Ancient One were alive.
Only after both of them died did he begin moving openly.
Their existence alone was enough to deter many cosmic threats.
Stephen Strange was often called the greatest genius Kamar-Taj had seen in a thousand years.
Yet his growth had been very rushed.
Karl suspected that the real reason was much simpler.
Magic battles were probably extremely expensive to portray.
In any case, since Karl had learned magic, it made sense for him to help protect Kamar-Taj if necessary.
And Stephen Strange could barely be considered a junior brother.
In the days that followed, Karl divided his time between two places.
Occasionally he returned to the manor to spend time with May and the others.
But most of the time he remained in Kamar-Taj's library, studying magic and reading ancient tomes.
May and the others did not know exactly what Karl was doing.
But they trusted him and did not ask too many questions.
Meanwhile, Gwen had officially begun attending New York University in Manhattan.
To make things easier for her, May even arranged a private car to drive Gwen to school every day.
At first Gwen wanted to refuse.
But May simply smiled and said:
"You're Karl's woman now. This is nothing."
"It will also make it easier for you to visit your parents."
Eventually Gwen agreed, though she still felt a little unaccustomed to such treatment.
Recently Gwen had also stopped going out to fight crime.
Her parents strongly opposed it.
And considering what Karl had told her before, she knew he would not approve either.
So she had stopped wearing the Spider-Woman suit.
Except…
When Karl specifically asked her to.
...
Visit patreon.com/ShiroTL to gain access to 40+ chapters