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….
So, returning to the opinion formed in the process of observation. And this opinion sounded like… "Hell if I know!"
I mean, Stark certainly gave the impression of an eccentric jerk burning through life, but I often create such an impression myself.
But what lay behind this external game was impossible to determine in one day. So I just had to patiently wait for him to go to sleep so I could calmly dig into his memory.
I had to wait a relatively long time. This restless guy clearly had a meter-long awl up his backside, and the fact that he was dying a little and his body simply couldn't keep up such a rhythm anymore didn't embarrass Stark.
But by the beginning of the third hour of the night, fatigue finally took its toll, and the local mad genius finally deigned to pass out.
Finally! I was seriously considering gently knocking him out with magic.
"Right then, let's see what's on your mind, Mr. Stark," finding myself at the "client's" bedside, I didn't remove my disguise to avoid the attention of any random J.A.R.V.I.S.es, but I didn't shy away from emitting a little expression into the environment.
And then there were Tony's memories. And they were… distinctive. No, I memorized the schematic of his Arc Reactor and the Iron Man suit, but… I needed to recover a bit from what I saw and come to my senses.
This guy is a Genius with a capital G. And the saying "necessity is the mother of invention" (or rather, "if you want to live, you'll twist yourself into a pretzel") seemed written for him.
So, for starters… the shrapnel in his body was real, and initially, they really did shove a magnet into his chest cavity.
How he didn't keel over from such an "operation" right there in captivity, probably only that prisoner-surgeon knew, another mad genius, but of medicine.
Why the hell he created such a monstrosity, I had no clue, but hey, mad geniuses are almost the same as brainless ones, their bursts of inspiration defy logic.
Nevertheless, the fact remained, shards of the high-explosive shell penetrated his body, and while they didn't manage to reach the heart, brain, or other vital organs, they were systematically turning his cardiovascular system into mince.
But… tormented by continuous pain, with multiple internal hemorrhages and suspecting that he had very, very little time left to live, Stark created his "reactor."
It would seem, how could an ordinary… okay, not quite ordinary, but definitely not medical power unit save him?
Tony himself didn't know; he assembled the reactor purely so he wouldn't have to lug a heavy car battery around in his hands, because he felt crappy enough as it was.
And when he felt better, he didn't particularly dwell on it, there were more important things to do. True, after escaping, he prudently didn't let doctors near him.
Only his independent research yielded no results either, all instruments showed perfectly normal readings. So the billionaire decided not to sweat it; if it works, it works.
But I, possessing Loki's knowledge, had reason to fall into a stupor and sacred awe.
This… Genius Idiot, without knowing it himself, managed to build a purely technical portal to the Dimension of Living Light!
I even touched the reactor when I recovered a bit from the guess, but yes, faintly, barely noticeably, but it pulled energy from the Living Light!
In magic, there are, let's say, three most powerful sources of Power that determine the interactions of planes of existence and other interesting mystical things.
So, undirected Power is simply called magical energy. It is universal and generally available. In theory, absolutely any sapient being can master it.
In practice, everything is highly individual and depends on the diligence and talent of said sapient.
Plus, the magical background is a heterogeneous thing, and as a rule, for weak sorcerers who do not possess noticeable reserves of their own power, it is more practical to draw energy from some adjacent dimension, each of which imposes its own hue on it, which also plays a role simply due to compatibility.
Besides this undirected and impersonal energy, there are two antipodal Powers. Darkforce and Living Light. And although the names do not fully reflect the content, they are correct.
Also, the degree of "sapience" of these Powers is not exactly known.
If Magic is definitely faceless and universal, then the latter two… no one knows for sure; doubts and suspicions on this issue have tormented many mystics for centuries.
But back to, so to speak, personalities.
Darkforce is perfect for working with space-time, and also, according to some data, negatively affects the user's character.
Nevertheless, Odin himself is a master of this direction. Although… "Daddy's" character is something else, so the theory has some ground.
True, it's still unclear which came first, the chicken or the egg: is it easier for assholes to break through to the necessary dimension, or does the connection with this dimension turn a sapient into an asshole?
This is a great mystery.
Oh right, and on the "Dark Side" canonically inhabit all sorts of demons, monsters, and other riffraff like Dormammu, who don't mind snacking on the guts, or even the soul, of an unlucky mage who decided to poke his nose into their domain without preparation.
Living Light, on the contrary, strives toward Love and Goodness, and therefore by default heals, blesses, and incinerates everyone who has "Darkness" in them.
Need I clarify that even a saint has a small piece of "dark thoughts"? So besides protection and healing, a user of this Power can arrange terror and mass destruction no worse than others.
True, while Magic is diffused in all existence and its flows are everywhere, Darkforce and Living Light "inhabit" exclusively their own dimensions, breaking through to which is very difficult, far from every mage, even among the experienced and skilled, decides to mess with these Powers and dimensions.
….
Bonus Chapter on every 500 power stones;
If you want to read ahead by 20+ chapters from here you can visit my Patre-on.
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