Inside the quaint, classical hall, the Ancient One and Xia Yu sat opposite each other. A cup of clear tea was placed before each of them, the faint aroma of tea misting around them.
Only the two of them were in the hall. The Ancient One sat composedly with his eyes closed, resting. Although Xia Yu had a pile of questions, he didn't feel right asking directly since the big shot hadn't spoken yet.
"Are you not going to give me face?!"
The Ancient One suddenly frowned, staring at Xia Yu with an unfriendly gaze.
?
Being questioned, Xia Yu was completely bewildered, his eyes revealing confusion. When had he not given the big shot face? He hadn't even opened his mouth to speak.
"Why aren't you drinking the tea? Do you look down on my tea-making skills?"
The Ancient One picked up the tea in front of him and drained it in one gulp, as if he couldn't feel the scalding heat of the water. After finishing, he stared fixedly at Xia Yu.
...
Xia Yu felt a bit uneasy being stared at by the big shot. In order not to damage the big shot's face, he picked up the teacup in front of him with a hint of resentment.
The steaming tea looked very hot. Gritting his teeth, Xia Yu drained it in one gulp.
Eh? It's not hot?
Savoring the faintly bitter clear tea, Xia Yu swallowed slowly. As the tea seeped down his throat, a fragrant aftertaste returned to his mouth, making him feel suddenly enlightened.
"Good tea!"
Although he didn't know how to appreciate tea, Xia Yu couldn't help but praise it. After Xia Yu put down the teacup, tea appeared in the cup again, as if it had never been drunk.
"Good. Since you gave me face, I'll reluctantly take you in as my little brother."
The Ancient One slapped his thigh. In that state, if he put on a pair of sunglasses, he would look exactly like a triad boss.
Xia Yu was extremely speechless at this scene. His original respect for the Sorcerer Supreme had been shattered by the Ancient One's series of eccentric actions.
Please, you're the Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme. Why do you look like a triad boss? Could it be that Kamar-Taj is actually an expo— pfft, a violent organization?
...It actually seems that way. To those evil gods who want to lay a finger on Earth, Kamar-Taj really is a violent organization, and the Ancient One is the boss of that organization.
The Ancient One took another sip of tea and silently pulled out a pair of sunglasses from behind him to put on. The aura of a triad boss instantly hit Xia Yu's face.
"Since you've joined Kamar-Taj, I'll have to tell you the rules of the road. Kamar-Taj has only one principle: if someone doesn't look right to you, just start hitting them."
"In our line of work, you must never be a coward. If you can gang up on them, gang up. If you can sneak attack, sneak attack. You can reason with the enemy, but you must wait until after you've beaten them to death to start reasoning."
"When you're out in the world, you need a background. Your background has to be big so that others will listen to you..."
The Ancient One talked on and on while Xia Yu listened with black lines on his face.
Wait, Kamar-Taj really is a triad? This world is just too wild.
"So you're saying I've already joined Kamar-Taj?"
Seeing the big shot finish his blabbering, Xia Yu asked tentatively. The Ancient One nodded calmly.
"That's right. You're now a person with a background. In the future, you won't have to worry about being looked down upon when you go out."
"Um, it's not that I'm dissatisfied, I just want to ask... why me?"
Xia Yu asked with some hesitation. Although joining Kamar-Taj meant he could learn the magic of this world, he still wanted to ask why.
The previous Panther God was the same. If the Ancient One hadn't said something to the Panther God, he might have suffered a setback in Wakanda long ago.
And now, not only did the Ancient One let him join Kamar-Taj, but he had also asked him before if he was interested in becoming the Sorcerer Supreme. If he became the Sorcerer Supreme, what would happen to Strange?
Regarding Xia Yu's question, the Ancient One sipped his tea and spoke like a master pointing the way: "Why the hell do you think? Don't you know how special you are?"
...
Damn, does this old man know everything?
F*ck! Then doesn't that mean I have no privacy!
"No, no, no, I actually don't know much, and I have no interest in your privacy." As he spoke, the Ancient One put down his teacup, took off his sunglasses, and stared into Xia Yu's eyes with certainty.
"But I know you're definitely on Earth's side, and that's enough."
Hearing the Ancient One's certain words, Xia Yu fell silent for a moment. He didn't continue to ask about that topic, but instead asked another question.
"Then what does'Sorcerer Supreme' mean? The next Sorcerer Supreme shouldn't be me."
"That's your narrow-mindedness. The Sorcerer Supreme has never been limited to a specific person. It's just that some people have a higher probability and others have a lower probability. Right now, your probability is the highest."
Hearing this explanation, Xia Yu nodded in realization. The Sorcerer Supreme indeed wasn't limited to a specific person. Besides Strange, it wasn't as if no one else had ever been the second Sorcerer Supreme.
Like Iron Man Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Doom Sorcerer Supreme, Captain America Sorcerer Supreme, Justi— Crime-Fighter Sorcerer Supreme, and so on.
"Since you've figured it out, then come with me."
Seeing that Xia Yu understood, the Ancient One stood up and walked toward the back of the hall. Seeing this, Xia Yu also hurriedly stood up and followed the Ancient One out of the hall.
Although people always criticized marvel's magic for only being possible by borrowing power from dimensional dreadlords, that wasn't actually accurate. Mages in marvel also had their own mana.
It was just that their mana was far too tiny compared to the dreadlords, making it impossible to cast powerful spells. Spells cast by borrowing a dreadlord's power were not only stronger but also carried some of the dreadlord's aura to amplify the spell.
However, as long as one's own mana was strong enough to pay the price of the magic, one could use magic even without borrowing power from a dreadlord.
So Xia Yu wasn't against learning marvel's magic. Anyway, he wouldn't use it after learning it; he'd just package it and send it to the Xia Yus of other worlds for them to use.
Furthermore, there was a Dreadlord Xia Yu among them, although he was a sealed dreadlord, and a very watered-down one at that.
A moment later.
The Ancient One led Xia Yu to the library of Kamar-Taj. Because the old man, the Ancient One, was from Tibet, China, the library here was also in a quaint Chinese style.
After entering the library with the Ancient One, Xia Yu couldn't help but widen his eyes. No matter how grandly it was described, it was nothing compared to seeing it with his own eyes.
The space inside the library was almost endless. Row after row of bookshelves stood tall, and the books on them were all kinds of magic books. Not only were there local magic books from Earth, but there were even magic books from other star systems.
Don't ask how Xia Yu knew; if it weren't for the old man next to him introducing them incessantly, he probably wouldn't have known either.
"Enough, enough, Master Ancient One, I understand now. You don't need to say anymore."
Xia Yu stopped the Ancient One's introduction with a dark face. This old man was too talkative. Didn't his mouth get dry after talking for so long?
"It's not dry."
The Ancient One pulled out a cup of tea from nowhere, blew on the steam, and then took a sip with a natural expression.
Xia Yu: (_)
Heh, as long as the big shot is happy. He couldn't afford to provoke him, but he could at least hide, right?
"Master Ancient One, since you brought me here, you must want me to study here. Could you please leave for a moment? I need to study."
"Tch." The Ancient One rolled his eyes disdainfully. While drinking his tea, he slowly left the library. Before leaving, he casually reminded him.
"Learning magic doesn't happen overnight. It requires countless amounts of sweat and heart's blood. If there's anything you don't understand, you can go ask the librarian, Wong. He will answer your questions."
Xia Yu froze for a moment and bowed in the direction the Ancient One had left. "Thank you very much. I will keep it in mind."
By the time Xia Yu looked up, the Ancient One's figure had completely disappeared.
Xia Yu scratched his head. Had he just been left to fend for himself?